:
Bob Minor,
Bob Minor,
Cuba Gooding, Jr.,
more...
:
John Singleton,
John Singleton
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Columbia TriStar
: Drama, Romance, Politics and Social Issues, Coming of Age , Crime, Urban Drama
: 112 min.
: English, Spanish, French
: English, Spanish, French
see additional details...
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Director John Singleton's debut chronicles the trials and tribulations of three young African-American males growing up in South Central Los Angeles. When young Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a bright underachiever, begins to show signs of trouble, his struggling professional mother (Angela Basset) sends him to live with his father (Lawrence Fishburne), a hard-nosed, no-nonsense disciplinarian. There he befriends Ricky (Morris Chestnut), a burgeoning football star, and Doughboy (Ice Cube, in a standout performance), a would-be gang banger. Over the years, each chooses his own path: Tre seems bound for college; Ricky is a blue-chip running back with his pick of schools; Doughboy is a dope dealer and bona fide gangster who drifts in and out of the county juvenile facility. All is well until, without warning, a rival gang chases down Tre and Ricky with tragic results. Doughboy immediately prepares for revenge, forcing Tre to decide whether to jeopardize his future and, perhaps, his life for the price of revenge and self-respect. Sometimes riveting, Boyz'N the Hood is not without its problems. The film tries to cram every single issue facing the black community into an hour and a half of screen time, making the film seem at times forced. The symbolism seems forced as well, and the film is often unbearably heavy-handed. Also, the characterization often relies on cardboard cut-outs; every white character in the film is a one-dimensional bigot, and the black police officer with whom Tre and his father deal is even worse than his Caucasian counterparts. Still, the unevenness of the film is redeemed by some moments of true brilliance. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
You might also enjoy:
Higher Learning
Singleton's similarly ambitious, college-set follow-up wasn't quite as consistent but still compelling and stirring
South Central
Less renowned but almost as affecting, this drama takes a more straightforward approach to the same issues
Juice
Spike Lee's cinematographer, Ernest Dickerson, made his directorial debut with this gritty urban tale, made better by an excellent cast
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| Powerful, poignant and persuasive
by lividsnails
January 15, 2005 - 8:00 PM PST
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1 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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"Nothin's perfect about this film at all," he says on the director's commentary. "It's just a good little first movie." He's bein' all humble there. The guy was 22 when he made this movie. Twenty-two! Most 22 year olds I know are like the kids in that Garden State movie. Getting stoned, bummin' around. They don't know shit about the world around them, much less how to make a poignant, powerful, immensely compassionate movie about it. He's barely out of college and John Singleton goes out and makes Boyz N the Hood.
I don't agree with the statement that the film feels like it's squeezing every problem facing the black community into an hour and half. (I mean, please, we're talkin' hundreds of years of slavery and genocide and we only got civil rights thirty years ago. It'd be hard to OVERstate the racial tension in American society.) There are LOTS of things he left out (racial profiling, for one). The film is an accurate of SOME aspects of urban black culture. I don't think Singleton exaggerates here. I've lived in neighborhoods where the helicopters circle overhead every night. Where you can hear gunfire going off. Police brutality happens. Shootings happen. To point out all these things is hardly overstating the problem. We live in a violent society. I'd say the end feels a bit compressed as far as the emotional reaction of the characters given what happens but to say that Singleton tries to do too much in this movie in the way of social critique, no way. Absolutely not. This is real.
Singleton's created a classic here, something that will be part of our cinematic cannon. A film that accurately and compassionately depicts the world around us, causes us to ask ourselves some painful questions about what kind of society we're living in and how things got to be this bad. Maybe urge us to do something about it. From the opening scene to the closing credits the message is clear: Stop. We gotta change this.
Lividsnails' Blog |
| great first movie.. a movie every director should inspire too
by psychodrama311
July 4, 2003 - 10:07 PM PDT
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0 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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| singleton was/is a brilliant director.. and you can tell from this harsh yet romantic look at the life of the southern california ghetto, that he approaches his films just life many of the great auteurs have in the past. although the acting is typically weak.. for a beginning movie.. you can see openings of brilliance. a terrific movie to see.. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.20)
263 Votes
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