Boyz n the Hood

Plot synopsis:
The story opens in 1984, focusing on three young black male youths, Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky, as they grow up in South Central, Los Angeles. Tre Styles is an intelligent young student of about age 10, but encounters disciplinary problems at his young age -- he mouths off to his teacher, who gives him the opportunity to lecture on a topic of his choosing. One of his fellow students antagonizes him and he fights with the boy, earning an ejection for the day. His mother Reva Devereaux (Angela Bassett), decides it would be best for her son if Tre were to live with his father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne). Furious is a no-nonsense disciplinarian who teaches his son how to be a man. Tre begins his new life in South Central L.A. and reunites with old friends Doughboy, Ricky, and Little Chris though shortly after being reunited, Doughboy and Chris are arrested for shoplifting from a local convenience store.The film skips forward to seven years later in 1991 at a backyard picnic party. The three boys lead very different lives. Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a high school senior aspiring to become a college man, Ricky (Morris Chestnut) an All-American football player at the same school, and Doughboy (Ice Cube) a crack dealing gangster and high school dropout. The film offers a keen insight on racial inequality, drugs, sex, and gang violence.Doughboy has just been released from prison and spends most of the time hanging out with friends Chris (now confined to a wheelchair), Monster and Dookie. Ricky is a star running back at Crenshaw High School. He has a out-of-wedlock son with his girlfriend Shanice (Alysia Rogers) and is being recruited by the University of Southern California, but needs to earn a minimum SAT score of 700 to receive an athletic scholarship. Tre also attends Crenshaw High School with Ricky and also has a girlfriend, Brandi (Nia Long). Tension exists between the two because he wants to have a sexual relationship with Brandi, who resists the idea because of her Catholic faith.Tre is torn by his desire to be a success and live up to his father's expectation and the pull of peer pressure to be more involved in the local gang culture of Doughboy and his crew. The climax of the film depicts Ricky's murder by members of a the local Crips, with whose leader he had a minor conflict, ironically after the audience learns that he has achieved the 700 SAT score necessary to attend USC. Doughboy, Monster, and Dookie intend to avenge Ricky's death. Tre, who is Rickys best friend, takes Furious' gun, but is stopped by him before leaving the house. Furious convinces Tre not to take the gun and seek revenge and Tre seems to relent, but he soon joins Doughboy and his friends on a revenge mission. Half way through the trip, Tre realizes his father was correct, asks Doughboy to pull the car over, and returns home. Doughboy and his two friends proceed and avenge Ricky's murder, gunning down his killers in cold blood.The film ends the following morning with a conversation between Tre and Dough Boy. Dough Boy understands why Tre left the revenge mission and both laments the circumstances that exist in South Central and questions whether or not they are locked in an unending cycle of violence. The end titles reveal that Doughboy was murdered two weeks later, and Tre went on to college with Brandi in Atlanta (with Tre enrolling at Morehouse, and Brandi at nearby Spelman).====================================Over a black screen the opening titles of the movie are show with voices heard during what sounds like a drive-by shooting. There seems to be some recognition between the participants and shots are fired from automatic weapons. A title card states "One out of every 21 Black-American males will be murdered in their lifetime", while a second title card states "Most will die at the hands of another Black Male". Police radio chatter is heard, reporting a "187", the police code for homicide. New voices are heard lamenting the deaths of people close to them. Suddenly a stop sign is shown, the frame slowly zooming in to a close-up.The story opens in 1984. A young African-American boy, Tre Styles, who lives with his mother, goes to school one day with a few of his friends. One of his friends asks the rest of the kids if they heard a shooting that had taken place nearby the night before. The boy invites the rest of his friends to see the crime scene in front of an abandoned garage. The garage door is riddled with bullet holes and a lot of blood has been spilled on the ground.The kids go to school and are in class listening to their teacher talk to them about the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving. Tre scoffs at the lesson and the teacher invites him up to lecture the class. Tre arrogantly accepts and begins to talk about the continent of Africa, showing an impressive amount of knowledge on the subject. When he suggests that all the races of the world first came from Africa, one of the other students is scornful -- the boy is one of Tre's friends that he walked to school with that morning. Tre strikes the boy with the pointer he'd been using and the two scuffle in the class.Tre is sent home. As he walks down his street he passes a bunch of teenagers beating up on another. We also hear, in voiceover, his mother, Reva, talking to his teacher, who says that Tre is quite intelligent and possesses a vast vocabulary but can't seem to control his temper. When the teacher asks if Tre's father lives with them and if Reva is educated, Reva becomes insulted and hostile and tells the teacher that Tre won't be coming back to school because he's going to live with his father, Furious Styles.Reva drives Tre to his father's house. On the way, she tells Tre that she doesn't want to see him end up poor, uneducated and living on the streets for the rest of his life. When they get to Furious' house, his mother talks to his father for a brief time and tells Furious that she can't teach Tre to be a mature adult. Tre finds his friends, Chris and Darren (called "Doughboy") hanging around his father's house, but isn't allowed to play with them as his father tells him to rake the leaves on the front lawn. Later, Tre and Furious go over the rules of the house and Furious tells Tre he's not being as hard on him as Tre believes, that he's simply trying to teach Tre responsibility. He also mentions that Tre's friends, who are fatherless, will wind up less fortunate than Tre.That night a burglar sneaks into Furious' house. Tre gets up to use the bathroom while his father, knowing the thief is in the house, load his Colt Python and jumps out of the bedroom, firing two quick shots. The leave gaping holes in his front door, and the thief escapes, leaving behind a sneaker. After calling the police, Tre and Furious wait nearly an hour for them to show up. One of the cops, a black man, seems to have a short temper and bristles when Furious tells him they'd been waiting a long time in the cold. Since nothing was actually stolen from the house, the black cop says there's no need to fill out a report. When he tries to be friendly toward Tre, Furious tells Tre to go back inside. The cop angrily asks if Furious has a problem with him; Furious' answer is "it's too bad you don't know what that is, brother."The next day, Tre goes to Doughboy's house. Dough's brother, Ricky, is one of Tre's best friends, however, the two brothers have different fathers and their mother clearly favors Ricky. While Tre waits outside, Doughboy's mother berates him, calling him lazy and stupid. Doughboy walks out and he and Tre wait for Ricky, who carries a football. They're joined by Chris, who asks them if they want to see a dead body. They go to where the corpse is laying and while they stare at it, a group of tough-looking teenagers walk up on them and demand Ricky's football, promising not to keep it. Scared, Ricky gives it to them and it's clear the boys are going to keep it. Doughboy walks over to one of the boys and demands the ball back. When he tries to take it and fails, he kicks the bigger boy in the leg. The boy backhands Doughboy and kicks him. Dough, Tre and Chris all begin to leave. When Ricky looks back at the teenagers, one of them relents and throws the ball back to Ricky. The three friends leave with Doughboy mumbling about going to the store. Ricky tells him he has no money but Dough says he's "going anyway."Tre goes fishing with his father. At the ocean, Furious asks his son if he's a leader or a follower. Tre enthusiastically says he's a leader. Furious also asks Tre what he knows about sex. Tre gives a crude explanation and Furious tells him that anyone can have a baby but it takes a "real man to be a father," relating his own experience at becoming Tre's father at the age of 17. He also talks about how he joined the Army and felt discriminated against and that Tre should never consider joining the Army. The two drive back home and see a police car outside Doughboy's house. Dough and Chris are being arrested for shoplifting.Seven years later a party is being held at Ricky and Dough's house. Dough has just been released from prison on a charge that isn't explained. Tre goes to the party and meets Dough. Dough and Ricky's mother, Brenda, talks to Tre and asks him to talk to Dough about staying out of prison. Tre finds Dough playing dominoes with Chris (now in a wheelchair) and another of his small gang, Monster. Also at the party is Brandi, Tre's girlfriend. Tre has his apprehensions about dating Brandi because she won't have sex with him. Tre also hasn't called her for several days and she leaves when a conversation about the subject goes nowhere. When the food is served, Tre suggests that the men at the party wait for the women to get their meals first. Ricky is also at the party and we see that he is now a father with an infant son. The child's mother lives with Ricky and his family at their mother's house.Tre heads home with a plate of food for his father. He notices a toddler playing in the street and takes her home to his drug-addicted mother, admonishing her for not watching her child and for not changing the baby's diapers. She offers him oral sex in exchange for money but Tre refuses. As he crosses the street, a red car stops abruptly in front of him. One of the back windows rolls down and an angry-looking gang member points a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun at Tre. Tre, though frightened, stands his ground and the car peels off.At home, Tre gives his father the food he brought home and asks Furious to trim his hair. While he does, Tre bemusedly tells his father that he's getting older. Furious, also amused, reminds Tre that Tre is only 17 years younger than him. Tre jokes a bit about his future children bothering their grandfather for money and Furious becomes agitated, asking Tre if he's protecting himself if he's sexually active. Tre tells his father a fictional story about having sex with a teenaged woman he met and Furious scolds him for not using a condom.The next morning, Tre picks up Ricky and they head to school. Tre mentions the conversation with his father and reveals he's a virgin. Ricky laughs at first but apologizes after a few moments. After school, Ricky goes to football practice and Tre talks to Brandi. She still refuses to have sex with him because she's Catholic. Tre tries several arguments but Brandi remains steadfast. However, the two reconcile.That night, while Doughboy hangs out on his front porch with his friends, an admissions representative from USC talks with Ricky about entering the prestigious university on a football scholarship. The rep suggests that football should not be Ricky's only goal for college, that he should explore other academic majors like business or computer sciences. All that remains for Ricky to qualify for the scholarship is to take the SAT. After the rep leaves, Brenda tells him how proud she is of him.A few days later, Ricky and Tre take the SAT exam. After they finish, they go to Furious' office. Furious has built his own business where he assists people in finding low-cost loans to buy houses. He has Tre drive them to a very rough neighborhood in Compton. Under a large billboard advertising "cash for your home" Furious tells the boys about the process of gentrification, where the property value of run-down neighborhoods is reduced with the effect of forcing out the poor residents and then raising the property value to attract new, higher-income residents. Furious speaks further on the subject, talking about how rough neighborhoods like these have more liquor and gun stores than non-black neighborhoods. As he speaks, several young hustlers of the community walk over to listen to him. Furious' theory is that stores like those sell products that encourage poor people to kill themselves, either slowly (in the case of alcohol) or quickly (from murders). He also ties in the idea that crack cocaine is very rapidly creating too many addicts and causing too many deaths in poor communities. Furious suggests that black communities should work together to keep their businesses black-owned. When an old man who wanders into the group, he suggests that it the young people are the cause of all the trouble because they don't work, drink alcohol, deal drugs, smoke crack cocaine and kill each other in the streets. Furious counters, saying that black people don't supply the drugs that find their way onto the streets. One of the young men from the street says that he has no choice when someone approaches him in anger with a gun; he'll kill him before he'll be killed himself. Furious gravely tells him to think before he shoots.Tre and Ricky drive back toward home when Tre says they should catch up with Doughboy & his friends on Crenshaw Boulevard. They arrive and park their car and walk back to Dough's car. While they talk to Dough, a tall gang member deliberately shoulders Rick roughly. Rick is suddenly angry and begins shouting at him -- the gang member seems indifferent. Dough gets out of his car and shows off the pistol he carries tucked in his waistband. When the gang member's girlfriend suggests they all hang out without a single shooting happening, Dough insults her. More of Dough's friends rally behind him and the hood stalks off. Moments later, a burst of automatic gunfire is heard and everyone scatters. The hood, returning to his car, had fired into the air with a MAC-10 sub-machine gun.As they race away, Tre is upset, talking about how he feels the need to escape LA. He's soon pulled over -- one of the cops is the same cop that had responded to his father's call years before when their house had been broken into. The cop doesn't recognize Tre himself but assumes him to be a gang member. Angry at the thought of another gang member causing trouble on his beat, the cop pulls his pistol on Tre and threatens to shoot him. When another call comes in for a possible homicide, the cop lets Tre and Ricky go.Tre goes to Brandi's house and breaks down crying. She comforts him and the two go to bed together. The next morning, Tre finds Dough on his mother's front porch. Ricky is inside, watching television. An ad for the US Army comes on and he begins to think that service might be the answer to his financial concerns for going to USC. His girlfriend asks him to go to a store and buy some cornmeal. On his way out the door, his brother gives him a hard time about being domesticated by his girlfriend. Ricky dismisses Dough with an insulting remark and they begin to fight on the front lawn. Their mother comes out and stops the fight by slapping Dough across the face. While Dough protests, his mother tries to comfort Ricky, who stalks off, followed by Tre.The two go to a nearby convenience store. Ricky talks about how he'd like to join the Army however Tre tries to talk him out of it, citing his father's service & how it wasn't of much benefit to a young black man. On their return trip from the store, they spot the car belonging to the gang banger who'd started the fight with Rick the night before. The car begins to chase them and they break for an alley, slipping into a few back yards to throw off their pursuers. At home, Dough sees the gang bangers car rip around their block and immediately knows they're chasing Rick and Tre. He gets into his own car with some friends and roars off to find them.Emerging in another alley, Rick suggests he & Tre split up and meet back at home. Ricky is walking quietly toward another street, scratching a few lottery tickets he'd bought. Tre sees the gang bangers car pull up and yells for Rick to run. From the backseat of the car, one of the gang members shoots Rick twice with a sawed-off shotgun. One shot hits Rick in the thigh, the other rips through his lower chest. He falls to the ground as Tre runs to him and holds him.Doughboy and the others arrive too late to do anything and they bring Ricky back to his house where they tend to him. Doughboy, Monster, and Dookie intend to avenge Ricky's death. Tre goes back to his house and takes Furious' gun, but is stopped by him before leaving the house. Furious convinces Tre not to take the gun and seek revenge and Tre seems to relent, but he soon sneaks out and joins Doughboy and his friends on a revenge mission. Half way through the trip, Tre realizes his father was correct, asks Doughboy to pull the car over, and returns home. Doughboy and his two friends proceed and avenge Ricky's murder, gunning down his three killers in cold blood.The film ends the following morning with a conversation between Tre and Doughboy. Doughboy understands why Tre left the revenge mission and both laments the circumstances that exist in South Central and questions whether or not they are locked in an unending cycle of violence. The end titles reveal that Doughboy was murdered two weeks later, and Tre went on to college with Brandi in Atlanta (with Tre enrolling at Morehouse, and Brandi at nearby Spelman). The final shot shows the title with the caption "Increase The Peace".

Tags: comedy, cruelty, murder, dramatic, cult, violence, tragedy, revenge, storytelling

Review:
This is not a hip-hop film, nor a detached and dehumanized story about "gang violence" (the great over-simplified scapegoat of the issues treated in this film), its a story about growing up fatherless or motherless in a war zone with a faceless enemy, where people do not value each other's lives at all and value their own lives only slightly more.Laurence Fishburn leads one of the best casts of the early 1990s, in his memorable portrayal of Furious Styles, a father trying to raise his son (Cuba Gooding Jr) well in an environment where murder and substance abuse are day-to-day realities - South Central L.A. The film follows his son, Tre, and his friends, from the hardships of childhood in an irrelevant educational system and a neighborhood which doesn't allow kids to be kids, through to the realities of making decisions about the value of life and the development of responsibility and hope as young adults.The cast disappears into their characters and brings each one to life in a unique and powerful way.
Out of an era of gangster rap came a nationwide exposure of the issues within the Black and Latino communities, and directors like John Singleton and the Hughes Brothers follow in the footsteps of the great Spike Lee. The film Boyz n the Hood is an intricate examination of the archetypes and stereotypes of the hood, as well as an introduction to the survivors, both trapped in the violence and escaping the cycle.
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.
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.
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.
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..
We probably all have to agree that "Boyz n the Hood" was basically the first "growing up in the ghetto" movie, showing how these African-American youths are surrounded by violence during their childhoods - some perpetrated by the cops, some is their own doing - but they all have to find a way to keep going.
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.
Brothers Doughboy {Ice Cube} and Ricky Baker {Morris Chestnut} and best friend Tre Styles {Cuba Gooding Jr}, each have the usual worries that come with leaving the teenage years behind.
Here Singleton could possibly have bowed out of the story, but he goes further, expanding the aftermath and taking us, along with the characters, to it's final "Increase The Peace" dénouement.It's been called everything from an After School Special to the most important Black American movie made thus far.
Boyz 'N the hood is a thoroughly fascinating and deeper than you think look at life in Los Angeles around the early 1980s to early 1990s; what the film actually does is look at a life in one of these Los Angeles 'ghettos' and uses it as the backdrop for a wonderful series of filmic events revolving around growing up, relations with family and friends, racism and the constant threat of violence.
Not only this but the approaching sound of rap and R&B music as cars get closer when there are multiple unknown characters in a scene is heard; it can feel very threatening  especially if our heroes are out on foot and you do feel like they are in danger.Boyz 'N the Hood is a fantastic debut film for John Singleton as many have already said.
No wonder Ice Cube continued his acting career and is pretty successful.Definitely a nice classic from the 90's that I recommend to people who want to watch a realistic and dramatic movie that makes one both think and feel.
I always thought that such films that were named like Boyz N the Hood, Hustle and Flow, and Menace 2 Society, normally titles like that are not promising to a good movie.
This is one of the better acted movies with stories of the ghetto and the thing that I loved about this film was that it had a good strong positive message to never let go of your dreams and don't let stupid people get you down.
But I think it was Lawerence Fishbourne and Cuba Gooding, Jr. that really steal the show and tell the story so well.Tre is having a hard time in the city where he and his mother live, he gets in trouble at school and she sends him to live with his dad, Furious Styles for the summer to teach him how to be a man.
He and his two best friends learn how to deal with the possibility of being killed or doing something they can never take back.Boyz N the Hood is a powerful movie that is very impressive, especially for a film that was made under a seven million dollar budget.
John Singleton's first and most successful film to date (and, I'm positive, his best work too) is an honest account of three black friends (played, in their teens, by Cuba Gooding Jr., Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut) growing up in a South Central LA ghetto.Ice Cube's song "AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted" partially inspired the story, which is also partially autobiographic.
Like the protagonist Tre (Gooding Jr.), Singleton lived with his mother (played by Angela Bassett in the film) for his first years, and was sent to his father's (Laurence Fishburne) when she felt the place she was living in wasn't suitable for the 10 year-old, and it was about time his dad taught him "how to be a man".
Singleton, who was only 23 when the film was made (he became not only the youngest ever Oscar nominee for Best Director, but also the first African American to be nominated in that category; only this year another African American would be nominated, Lee Daniels of "Precious", exactly 18 years later), told a story of how the reality of one's environment and upbringing are definitely huge factors in how one's personality and life choices are shaped and/or limited; yet, it still remains one's own struggle in the end.
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.
All those elements make Boyz N The Hood not only one of the best films of the 1990s and a classic of not only Black cinema but cinema in general and is John Singleton's best film.Set in South Central Los Angeles,California,Boyz N The Hood tells the story of Tre Styles(Cuba Gooding Jr.),a teenager who as a kid is sent by his Mother Reva(Angela Bassett)to live with his Father Furious Styles(Laurence Fishburne)who has been teaching Tre to grow up since Tre was a kid.
Along with living with his Father,he is best friends with brothers Doughboy(Ice Cube),a criminal and Ricky Williams(Morris Chestnut),a star High School Football athlete and young Father.
While living in their neighborhood,Tre,Doughboy and Ricky have to deal with violence,tragedy and coming of age in South Central.Boyz N The Hood is a brilliant and groundbreaking film in many ways because it's the movie that gave birth to the 'Hood genre in the 1990s and is The Godfather of this genre paving the way for other Hood movies such as Menace II Society(1993)and Juice(1992).
Boyz was also the film that gave movie goers a look into the world of South Central Los Angeles,showing the violence,tragedy and urban decay that was going on in 1991 and where there is danger and bullets in the air the kind of things that was being talked about on record by great Hip-Hop artists such as N.W.A,Ice-T and Ice Cube during the late 1980s and early 90s.
A wonderful song.In final word,if you love John Singleton,Hood Movies,urban films or cinema in general,I highly suggest you see Boyz N The Hood,an excellent,powerful and unforgettable classic that will stay with you after you watch it.
It was a film that showed a portrayal of social problems in inner-city Los Angeles, it is about a tale of three young black friends called Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky growing up together 'in the 'hood.
I thought that the film gave an excellent look at how life in in South Central Los Angeles and the problems that people face living there.
This movie relates to a lot of what really goes on in these types of communities.In the movie, there was one part that caught my attention which was when Doughboy(Ice Cube) was on the porch talking to Tre(Cuba Gooding Jr.)and said exactly "Either they don't know, it don't show, or they just don't care about whats going on in the hood." As of speaking for my past, I did believe that specific quote.
Ricky would like to get into college to pursue his football career the only way out for him and his young family to a better way of life.By the end of the movie you feel that if only friends would listen to one another more often and say the things that really matter in their relationships then when it's time to say goodbye you know how you feel about one another.A must see film if you have ever had a best friend who is no longer around.
John Singleton's portrayal of social problems in inner- city Los Angeles takes the form of a tale of three friends growing up together 'in the 'hood.' Half-brothers Doughboy and Ricky Baker are foils for each other's personality, presenting very different approaches to the tough lives they face.
The tough inner-city of Los Angeles is examined through the eyes of a young African-American man (Cuba Gooding, Jr. in his star-making performance) who has been forced to leave a middle-class existence living with his mother (Angela Bassett) to become part of the mean jungle that is the hood to live with father Laurence Fishburne.
Boyz n the Hood is an impressive debut from writer/director John Singleton and launched the film careers of Cuba Gooding Jr. and Ice Cube, who both are excellent here.
However "Poetic Justice" DID and when I finally came around to watching "Boyz n the Hood" I had extremely low expectations.I honestly thought it was going to be as absolutely pointless as "Poetic Justice" was.And, yeah, I did kind of like "Higher Learning," which I also saw before this, but I still kind of feel that he was pointing the finger at white people and telling the viewers that we are all evil and the cause of all the problems in the world.So I went in here thinking it was going to be a talented racist mess.However, it wasn't.
The first movie in which we see actors like Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr, Ice Cube, Angela Bassett and others in prominent roles.
And Boys n the Hood still stands up today.Set from 1984 to 1991 in South Central LA Boyz n the Hood follows three friends, Tre Styles (Desi Arnez Hines/Cuba Gooding Jr.), a smart kid who wants to lead a normal life, Ricky Baker (Donovan McCrary/Morris Chestnut), an aspiring American Football player and Ricky's gangbanger half-brother "Doughboy" (Baha Jackson/Ice Cube).The main characters three different aspects of black life - Tre is the academic, Ricky is athletic and Doughboy falls in with a bad crowd and serves as an example of what could happen to Tre and Ricky.
Two years later, young director John Singleton did his first film that has since been regarded as the mother of all hood movies.
It's certainly an intense, well-acted and surprisingly mature drama that explores life, liberty, family relationships, education, and of course gang culture, examining what makes people tick and what leads to the senseless violence and murder that's blighted the streets since forever.John Singleton is careful never to preach his messages, although there is a preacher of sorts in the movie: the excellent Laurence Fishburne as the mild-mannered but steely-eyed father who wants only the best for his kids.
Boyz N the Hood is one of many early films that bring awareness to the struggles of life "in the hood." Three boys grow up together in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, and although they are all different in their own ways, they all have to deal with the problems that come with living in a dangerous, low-income area.
Although Boyz In the Hood deals with living in a violent world which some of us will never understand, the story is more of a coming of age film rich in character development.
Though certain parts have not aged especially well, the core of the film, about the relationship between a son and father, as well as how to operate in a neighborhood where violence is around every corner, does hold up and resonates well.It starts and has its first half hour spent (wisely) in 1984, when young Tre gets in a fight at school and his mother (Angela Basset, only in three scenes but essential to the story) takes him to live with his father (Fishburne, maybe his best/subtlest performance), who can "teach him how to be a man" as she puts it more than once.
And certainly again it's also about what effect, or lack thereof, parents have on their children in such an environment.Although at one point Singleton nearly stops the movie for a speech on gentrification - more distracting not so much for the speech but how immediately people gather around to listen and respond, which feels the most "screenwriter-y" of the movie - most of what he is showing really works: urban alienation and the sense that things won't get better (i.e. Doughboy's brother); the dangers of urban youth having children at a young age (lack of sex education is hinted at); and, of course, the lack of any real authority or leadership from those who "Serve and Protect." When it comes to the 'hood' of the film, it's often the opposite.The scene with the racist black cop is striking for how Singleton takes what could be just a very one-dimensional character - we don't really know his name - and fills him with real conflict.
Its cultural significance was recognized in 2002 with its induction into the National Film Registry.The story's central character is Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr.), a young man living with his father (Lawrence Fishburne) in the Crenshaw neighbourhood of South Central.
I don't know how accurate this movie is to the gang life in the 1990s but I felt sympathy for all the characters living in that life and it is hard to believe people actually live like that in real life.The story follows the life of Tre, a really intelligent, black, man struggling with the life he lives in.
The tried but true "Coming of Age" theme is given a fresh perspective as childhood friends Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Doughboy (Ice cube), and Ricky Baker (Morris Chestnut) transcend adolescence and become young men.This film shows the importance of choices and how they can impact the rest of your life and the lives around you.
All three boys struggle to live their own lives in a town filled with hatred and gang violence.The main thing the film wants to show is that a strong father figure is very important in a young black man's life.
"Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood." These are the words of Ice Cube's character in the powerfully emotional race film, Boyz n the Hood, a story about a group of black kids who grow up in an impoverished and violent inner city neighborhood.
Director John Singleton portrayed Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr.), journey, along with two childhood friends, Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky Baker (Martin Chesnut) as an exciting but to also show the social issues of young African-American males.
Boyz n the Hood is a story about a boy named Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who grows up in the ghetto of L.A. Tre is sent to live with his father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne), and ends up becoming best friends with two brothers, Ricky and Doughboy.