One cold winter, at the Norfolk, Virginia Naval base, two seasoned petty officers, Navy lifers Signalman William "Badass" Buddusky (Jack Nicholson), and Gunner's Mate First Class "Mule" Mulhall (Otis Young), are assigned to escort a dishonorably discharged seaman, Lawrence M. Meadows (Dennis Quaid), to Portsmouth Military Prison near Kittery, Marines, where he will serve an eight-year sentence. When Badass jests that Meadows must have killed the base commander, the Master-at-Arms (Clifton James) explains that Meadows robbed forty dollars from the contribution box of the commander's wife's favorite charity, a polio foundation that annually awards her a plaque. Disregarding the men's stunned expressions, the chief congratulates them for getting assigned to a good detail, which allows a week to deliver Meadows and return, and warns that their careers are in jeopardy if they fail to complete the task. Neither officer is enthusiastic about their assignment, and Mule tells Badass that he hates the detail. However, Badass calculates that Portsmouth can be reached in two days and suggests privately to Mule that they rush Meadows to the prison. They can then return leisurely, spending the extra days and per diem on themselves. Upon meeting Meadows, they are surprised that he is just a cowering 18-year-old resigned to his fate, too timid to cause trouble, and on the bus to the train station, they remove his handcuffs. Later, on the train, the officers ask Meadows whether his lengthy sentence was really for stealing forty dollars, and the young man replies that he was actually caught before he was able to take the money. Badass later learns from Meadows that his only prior criminal record was a couple of arrests for shoplifting before he enlisted. Feeling sorry for him, Badass says the authorities might knock off two years for good behavior, to which Mule is skeptical, but Meadows brightens. Later, the officers discover that Meadows pilfered a candy bar at the station and, despite their lack of concern, the seaman panics and runs down the aisle. After they drag him back, he tearfully confesses that he is always stealing small things. In Washington, the sailors leave the train to allow Meadows time to calm down. Although the younger man has shown little interest in his situation, he mentions that he likes melted cheese on his hamburgers. At a restaurant, when the sandwich is served with a slab of cold cheese, Meadows meekly accepts it, but Badass insists on sending it back to the cook. Later, Badass confronts a bartender (Don McGovern) for refusing service to the underage Meadows, going so far as to pull out his gun, but Mule intervenes. Outside, Badass revels and proclaims loudly that he is a "bad ass," then buys beer from a liquor store, which they drink in a parking lot. By then they have missed their train, so they check into a hotel. There, the drinking continues, and Badass, proud of being a Signalman, demonstrates semaphore. When Meadows tells Badass that the bartender was only doing his job, Badass asks if he ever feels so enraged that he needs to get it out of his system. Meadows recalls being mad only once, when a Marine guard beat him up in the brig. He relates that the beating did not anger him, but when the guard claimed that he was Jesus Christ and told him not to forget it, Meadows became furious and hoped the chaplain would hear about it. Disturbed by Meadows' pathetic story, Badass smashes a lamp with his fist. To mollify him, Meadows asks Badass to teach him hand signals. The next day, at Badass' suggestion, they take Meadows to see his mother in Camden, New Jersey. Mule worries that he might try to escape, but Badass assures him that the kid is secretly glad to go to prison, because he is frightened of the world. Meadows' mother is not at home, and as they look inside at the slovenly manner in which she lives, Meadows says he would not know what to say to her. After returning to the train, Badass suggests that writing Meadows' mother's congressman might help, but Mule says that nothing will help Meadows. He says, they must either release him or he must live with the sentence, but then adds that they cannot release him. Although Mule feels sorry for the injustice of Meadows' sentence, he sternly tells Badass to stop thinking about the seaman's plight and recall that the Navy has been good to them. He points out that both of them are "lifers" and they have to do the job. When Badass says he wants to show the kid a good time before he is locked up, Mule counters that doing so will make his eight years harder. In the New York train station, Badass picks a fight with Marines in a men's room, and Mule and Meadows join in. Afterward they run out to the street and hail a taxi. Badass takes them to a food stand he knows that sells inexpensive but delicious Italian sausages, then introduces Meadows to Heineken beer. Badass then bets their traveling funds in a tavern darts game, winning $63, which he divides three ways. When they hear chanting, Meadows asks to investigate and they follow the sound to a meeting of young American Nichiren Shoshu Buddhists, where the followers testify that chanting changed their lives. Afterward, Meadows chants the phrase he learned, hoping that his situation will improve. The sailors proceed to an adult bookstore, where Meadows admits he is a virgin, then to a pinball arcade, where the seaman, emulating Badass, has a metal tag engraved that identifies him as a Chief Signalman. Later, at an ice rink, Mule and Badass watch paternally as Meadows skates. Claiming that chanting kept him from falling on the ice, Meadows continues to chant under his breath as they proceed to a bar, where Donna (Luana Anders), a Shoshu follower, hears and invites them to a party at her apartment. There, in clouds of marijuana smoke, Badass attempts unsuccessfully to seduce a woman with talk about the romance of the sea. A different woman questions Mule about Vietnam, and is reproachful when he says he simply goes where he is told. When Meadows confides to Donna that he is en route to prison, she suggests he take refuge in Canada with someone she knows, but he does not want to cause trouble for Mule and Badass, who are his "best friends." She then leads him to her bedroom, where, instead of offering him sex, as he hopes, she kneels before an altar and chants fervently. In a Boston diner the next day, Meadows arbitrarily sends his eggs back to the cook. The older men decide Meadows should experience sex before being incarcerated and take him to a brothel. As they wait for him, Badass explains to Mule that his marriage dissolved because his former wife wanted him to be a television repairman. Mule admits he never married but supports his mother, who is proud of his career. Upstairs, when Meadows ejaculates prematurely, the prostitute (Carol Kane) says her job is done. However, Badass and Mule pay for Meadows to have a second chance and this time he succeeds. Afterward, in the remaining time before Meadows is due at the prison, they go to a park to roast hot dogs in the snow, because Meadows suggests a picnic. After eating, Meadows chants, as Badass reminisces about his love of the sea. Badass remarks proudly on Meadows' transformation and when Mule announces they must now deliver him, Badass worries that he will not be able to survive the "sadistic" Marine guards. As they talk, Meadows slips away and, from across the park, uses semaphore to signal, "By By" then runs away. They chase him across the park and must use their combined strength to subdue him. During the rest of the trip, Badass and Mule must keep a sharp eye on the weeping Meadows, who now realizes how much his freedom means. Later, at the prison, Meadows is dragged away behind heavily barred, steel doors. The Marine in charge of admittance (Michael Moriarty), who saw scratches and bruises on Meadows that were caused when the officers apprehended him, accuses Mule and Badass of abusing the prisoner. However, when he asks if Meadows offered resistance or tried to escape, Mule and Badass state that he did not. The Marine continues to harass them and tells them that their orders to leave Norfolk had not been properly signed, but eventually permits them to leave after meak Mulhall challenges the arrogant Marine on his harassment by asking for his supervisor. Outside, Badass fumes about that disrespectful treatment and by others like him, while Mule again says how much he hates the detail. As they march off in unison, Badass talks about going to New York and Mule to Baltimore, before they report back at the base. Both hope their orders will have come through when they get back to Norfolk, Virginia.
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