BOYZ N THE HOOD

For his first film outing, John Singleton chose to drop his viewers smack dab into the Crenshaw ghetto of South Central Los Angeles. The movie was Boyz n the Hood (released in 1991), and it would earn him two Oscar nominations. One nom was for Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen. The other was for Best Director, making Singleton the very first Black director to earn this nomination. To date, a Black artist has yet to win this award.

This is a very powerful coming-of-age drama, exploring that genre from the unique perspective of a lower-income urban environment. The story starts out in the mid-1980s with a trio of young men at its core. Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.), Doughboy (Ice Cube), and Doughboy’s half-brother, Ricky (Morris Chestnut). Tre’s parents divorced when he was young. He had been living with his mother Reva (Angela Bassett), but because of some acting out at school, he was sent to live with his dad in Crenshaw, an area that is rougher than what he had been used to. It is here, at age 10, that he begins to hang out with Doughboy and Ricky. Tre’s dad, Jason “Furious” Styles (Lawrence Fishburne), is determined to raise his son with strict rules and a longing for knowledge and education.

We jump forward seven years into the early 1990s, and the three men are on the cusp of embarking on their own self-determined journeys for their lives. Tre is determined to head off to college and hopes that he can convince his long-time girlfriend to begin having sex (she is determined to hold out for marriage). Doughboy has just been released from jail (he’s now a member of the Crips gang) and hopes to stay out. Ricky has garnered a great deal of attention from colleges for his football skills. He hopes to receive a scholarship but worries that he won’t be able to pass the SAT tests. We see these three young men soon face challenges that are directly related to the environment in which they have been raised. Over the course of a few weeks, things will change for each of them, and they will be forced with decisions that will forever cement who they are and who they may become.

This film utilizes every moment to its fullest and wastes none. This would be the first of three flicks that Bassett and Fishburne have acted in together. They are both outstanding actors in their own right, but together they shine even brighter, both a compliment to the other. Gooding Jr, Ice Cube, and Chestnut all give believable performances. Kudos to director Singleton for extending a small role to Regina King, allowing her to spread her thespian wings following many years on the TV show, 227. Her career and deserved success have since skyrocketed. Another standout is Tyra Ferrell, who plays the mother of Doughboy and Ricky. Her indifference to Doughboy (she disliked his baby daddy), countered with her admiration for Ricky, makes their presence that much more intense... and sorrowful. The story is rich with many themes, but for me, one of the strongest was the notion that violence creates absolutely nothing but more violence. Breaking that cycle is not easy, but the film certainly does a standout job of shining a light on this. This film may be over 30 years old, but it holds its own in every way, even today. Sadly, John Singleton passed away in 2019. But, based on Boyz n the Hood, I’m anxious to take on more of the legacy he left behind.