- John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood was the most controversial, provocative, and dangerous movie of the 1990s, according to everybody who hadn't seen it. For a brief time in 1991 specifically, stories about violence erupting at theaters where the film was shown were ubiquitous. For some reason that I can't quite put my finger on, racist relatives and half-wit morning DJs talked about Boyz n the Hood like it was the spark that would ignite a race war. (Never mind the fact that the only shooting at our local movie theater occurred during the same year's milk-white family comedy Curly Sue.) The film's "Increase the Peace" tagline escaped most people's notice.
- In point of fact, Boyz n the Hood is much more a movie about families than it is about gangs. After landing in trouble at school, young "Tre" Styles (Desi Arnez Hines II) finds himself handed off by his hard-working mother Reva (Angela Bassett) into the custody of his stern-but-loving father "Furious" (Laurence Fishburne). Furious is the sort of dad who makes his son memorize lists of chores and rules, but he's also the sort who takes his son fishing and absolutely influences his life for the better. Doubtless the Baker kids across the street would have appreciated such a role model in their lives. Although Brenda Baker (Tyra Ferrell) dotes on her son Ricky (Donovan McCrary), she has nothing but contempt for the hapless "Doughboy" (Baha Jackson), who gets arrested for shoplifting before he even has the chance to grow up.
- Fast-forward seven years and Doughboy (Ice Cube) has just gotten out of jail. Ricky (Morris Chestnut) and his girlfriend (Alysia Rogers) have a young son, while Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) only has eyes for Brandi (Nia Long), whom he's loved since gradeschool days. Although Tre, Brandi, and Ricky all have plans for college, Doughboy spends most of his time lounging around on the front porch with his friends (Redge Green, Baldwin C. Sykes, Dedrick D. Gobert). Whether or not Doughboy's crew can properly be called a gang is a good question. Mostly they just hang out, drink, and talk over the police helicopters ominously droning overhead. One night, there's some trouble on Crenshaw Blvd and Doughboy pulls a gun. The people he points it at are definitely part of a gang, and a very violent one at that.
- From its opening shot of a stop sign to its final elegiac glimpse of a wasted life vanishing, Boyz n the Hood is a heart-wrenching depiction of the gauntlet that many young African Americans are forced to run every day. Singleton's direction is unflinching and his writing authentic, made all the more impressive by the fact that he was in his early 20s when he made this film. (Singleton was famously the youngest person and first African American to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar.) Amidst the film's many virtues, its acting may be its greatest accomplishment, with Fishburne, Gooding, and Ice Cube all delivering what are quite honestly the best performances of their careers. Anyone who claimed that this film condoned violence must not have seen it, but absolutely should have.
- Also featuring Regina King and Whitman Mayo, the latter of whom is best known to me as Grady from Sandford and Son.
