I saw this American drama film in the early 90s on one of the premium cable channels. I didn’t recognize any of the actors at the time, so either it was a deep indie film or maybe just pre-famous actors. The story seemed to revolve around a tall, lanky and goofy, dark-haired guy in prison. This guy keeps getting help from a shorter, possibly red-haired inmate and whenever the goofy guy says “thanks” for the help, the shorter inmate always replies with something like, “no problem” or “forget about it” and then, “Batten(?),” the name of a juvenile detention center or maybe a boys reform school where the two inmates had originally met. At some point later in the movie, the shorter guy ends up assaulting or possibly raping the tall, goofy guy.

This may not help at all, but I saw it on cable around the same time I first saw The Reflecting Skin. The two movies occupy the same time slice in my mnemonic chronology.

That “forget about it — Batten” line has been stuck in my head for almost 30 years. Help me solve this so I can get it out of there!!