Boyz n the Hood - Strade violente

In South Central Los Angeles, the boy Tre Styles lives with his divorced mother Reva Styles (Angela Bassett). When Tre is suspended for three days at school, Reva decides to send him to live in Crenshaw with his father, the businessman Furious Styles (Larry Fishburne), "to become a man". Tre befriends his neighbors, the half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker, and soon they become best friends. Seven years later, Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is an educated teenager preparing to join the university; Ricky (Morris Chestnut) is an athlete, expecting to join the university with scholarship since he is a great football player; and Doughboy (Ice Cube) is a small time criminal that has been arrested several times. But they live in a dangerous neighborhood where dreams are shattered by bullets.

"Boyz n the Hood" is a powerful drama by John Singleton that has not aged after twenty-five years. The social problem in American ghettos is shown in South Central Los Angeles. Youths are forced to live with violence and shootings since their parents cannot afford to move to a better neighborhood and even those that try to prepare for a better future, may be involved with the environment. The fate of Ricky and his family is heartbreaking. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Boyz n the Hood - Os Donos da Rua" ("Boyz n the Hood – The Owners of the Street")

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.

John Singleton's best film also proved to be one of my favorite movies about life in the streets. Cuba Gooding, Jr. displayed early on he was going to be a respectable actor. The power of the film has yet to be matched as most modern interpretations of street life prove to be violent stylizations. While Singleton has taken a couple missteps along the way, this film still stands up rather well by today's standards. The motives and actions appear realistic, especially Doughboy's thirst for revenge. A good film, which not only helped improve Laurence Fishburne's career, but introduced us to Gooding.

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.

Tre is sent by his mother to go back into `da hood' to live with his father to `become a man'. He hooks back up with his friends - loser gangbanger Doughboy and athletic college hopeful Rick. Tre finds that the hood is full of traps for the young men therein and must decide how he wants to live his life with guidance and hindrance from his father and his friends.

It's hard to remember now, but this film was the one that created a series of copies and spoofs, some of which were better or more hard hitting, but they all suffered because they held to cliches that this film created. I.e. the babyfather trap, the college kid having his dreams crushed etc. The plot now suffers because we know it is all a cliché - but with fresh eyes it is powerful and realistic for many. Singleton may be a flash in the pan but this was his flash and he directs well - only occasionally going OTT dramatically with slowmo etc.

The young cast are all very good. Gooding Jr delivers a good, if naïve performance and Ice Cube proves that not all rappers have to be rubbish actors in poor `comedies'. Fishburne is as powerful as ever in a small role but Angela Bassett has little to do with her small role. Long is one of my favourite actresses and she's really good here. Many of the cast do fall into caricatures but it's best to ignore that as much as you can.

Overall a great film that suffers now because it has been copied so much that it looks like a cliché itself. However with fresh eyes this is a powerful film with only a few weaknesses.