बॉयज़ न द हुड

John Singleton with his debut film cleared easily any opposition in the ghetto life genre. These are real characters facing real problems. Singleton goes one step beyond Spike Lee, analyzing and not only describing, proposing and not only denouncing. The film gets even more absorbing by the terrific camera work and the top notch acting.

An exemplary directorial debut from John Singleton, who managed to create an American classic with his first effort.

As we follow Tre Styles from childhood toward becoming a young adult (as played effectively by Cuba Gooding, Jr.), and attempting to dodge, with the cautious guidance of his parents, the many dangers and risks associated with growing up in inner-city America, the sense of ever-present danger and, often, hopelessness associated with attempting to avoid falling into the cracks of society is abundantly clear.

In the role of Tre's troubled friend Dough Boy, Ice Cube is something of a revelation, and his balanced performance, alongside Singleton's excellent script, prevent him from becoming merely another gangster caricature. Lawrence Fishburne and Morris Chestnut add further depth to a strong cast.

All in all a very real, gritty depiction of the challenges faced at every turn by African American men and women in modern America. The building anger bristling beneath the surface in so many scenes is particularly resonant given the outburst of violence in the Rodney King Riots that took place in the very same city of the story just one year later.

The film spawned several 'urban gang flick' imitations in subsequent years, but most glorified violence and placed an emphasis on a loud soundtrack and sexual explicitness at the expense of strong plot-line, good character development and a serious social message.

All three are to be found in Boyz N the Hood.

Boyz N The Hood Directed by: John Singleton Country: USA Year: 1991 Running time: 107 minutes Starring: Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding Jr.

"I watched the news this morning. Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood. They had all this foreign sh-t. They didn't have sh-t on my brother, man."

The mother of Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr.) decides to send her son to live with his father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne), after he gets into a fight at school. Furious, who lives in the heart of South Central LA, is a man that knows the values of how to respect and how to earn it. He's strict, but he's fair. Furious works as a mortgage broker.

We watch Tre mature from a young boy to his senior year in high school taking the SAT's. His two best friends are brothers. Ricky (Morris Chestnut) is a great athlete and is getting into college to support his girlfriend and infant son. The other brother, Doughboy (Ice Cube), is headed down a totally opposite path of guns, drugs, gangs, and violence. He's in and out of prison each year.

Furious knows that his son could get killed easily, as he was once involved with the gang scene himself. He wants Tre to graduate college and be good in whatever his profession may be.

As the story goes more in depth, we see that even if you aren't involved in a gang, you could still be a target. Whether it's your brother, cousin, sister, or other family member that is thee one involved with the violence, the main target could be the person in the family who stays away from the dangers of the street.

Tre and his friends are in a world where being violent is sometimes the way to live. Helicopters are heard searching for murderers every night. The police are so busy, that sometimes a 9-1-1 call could mean waiting for the police to arrive. There is even one Black-cop, who uses his power to try and intimidate young Blacks who he thinks might be involved in the gangs and violence.

This is the ultimate ghetto film, which will never be topped. All of the direction and screenplay is brilliant. Singleton doesn't use cheap scenes that get the viewer off-topic and the audience, as a whole, is always into the movie. Come into a world that most of us haven't been in. Follow the life of one boy who turns into a man as he has to not only goes through personal struggles, but has to worry about whether he'll be killed at any moment. -Pat

10/10

A movie that takes place in South Central Los Angeles in 1991. I don't know about now but, at that time, that area was crime ridden with drug deals and murders happening almost daily. Father Jason Styles (Larry Fishburne) tries to bring up his son Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) correctly despite all the violence around them. It also deals with two friends of Tre--Darin (Ice Cube) an angry young black man and his brother Ricky (Morris Chestnut) who wants to go to college. It all leads up to a truly harrowing ending.

Director John Singleton's first movie is incredibly powerful and still his best movie (so far). From what I've heard he captured exactly what it was like to grow up in that area. It's a little dated though--the guy sucking on the pacifier confuses some people but that was a big fad back in 1991. It's just unbelievable that kids grew up in an area like that and survived. The story itself is a little too simplistic (the good and bad brothers) and it's basically just the story of a teenager coming of age--but it still works. Singleton wisely doesn't accuse anyone of how the situation is and offers no solutions. He just presents it in a matter of fact way which makes this all the more powerful.

The acting is just great. Fishburne and Gooding play a father and son perfectly. Fishburne is just incredible--Gooding falters a few times (and it's obvious that he's no teenager) but he's still very good. Ice Cube is a little one note in his character (always angry and sullen) but it fits. Chestnut is just great.

People should be warned--there's tons of profanity (but that is how kids talk) and the ending gets very bloody and disturbing. I still remember people crying out loud in the audience back in 1991. A powerful film and well worth seeing.

Well-done movie by John Singleton, and very well-acted. Well-developed characters, and people you come to really care about. What's especially sad is we actually have areas of this country where the brutality and senselessness portrayed here is all too real. Cuba Gooding, Jr. is exceptional as a bright young man deperately trying to not get sucked into the endless rage and revenge life of his boyhood pals. Laurence Fishburne is tremendous as a father trying to steer his son through this minefield of a life, and on to better things.

One complaint, his "Don't trust the white man" speech has gotten ridiculously old. This attitude serves absolutely no one, and makes all of us, white and black, worse off because of it. It's time this ceased to be portrayed in movies.