Baby Boy (2001) is a John Singleton picture that I recently rewatched on Tubi. The storyline follows a young man who lives with his mom, has a baby mama and has a side chick. He does his best to treat his baby mama right and create a direction with her...but is too selfish to let his side chick go. Meanwhile, his mom has a new lover and he's worried about getting kicked out. Will Baby Boy grow up and become a man and do what he needs to do to do right by the women in his life, or stay at his mom's house for life acting like the world owes him something?
As previously referenced, this movie is written and directed by John Singleton (Boyz N the Hood) and stars Tyrese Gibson (Transformers), Taraji P. Henson (Hustle & Flow), Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), Omar Gooding (Ghost Dad), Mo'Nique (Precious), A. J. Johnson (House Party), Snoop Dogg (Training Day) and Tamara Bass (Boston Public).
This movie is so well cast and written and contains a nice blend of comedy, drama and self-discovery. A. J. Johnson and Taraji P. Henson are absolutely gorgeous in this picture. There's some good shower and sex scenes in this picture. Ving Rhames steals the show though as his performance is hilarious, strong and impactful. Every scene he is in is tremendous. The breakfast scene, mom sex sounds through the wall and clothes selling sequences always crack me up. The acting is also very good, Henson's "he don't love me anymore" scene is tremendous. The ending with the character evolutions and new perspectives is also perfectly written. The one aspect of the movie that frustrated me was Tyrese's acting, which was inconsistent. His dreams and the shooting sequence were poorly done.
Overall, this is a very worthwhile film that isn't Singleton's best work but is definitely worth a viewing. I would score this a 7-7.5/10 and strongly recommend it.
