Colors stars Robert Duvall and Sean Penn as partners on the LAPDs gang crime division. Duvall had hoped to spend more time with his family, but hes pulled back into active service because of a step-up in gang activity. He makes no secret of his contempt for his novice partner Penn, but eventually comes to rely on the younger man as a valuable street contact. The central crisis is the battle for supremacy between the Crips and the Bloods, with every effort to call a truce stymied by the gang members themselves and by undue police intervention. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide