User reviews

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.

Most movies about life in the hoods of LosAngeles, New York City, and other urban areas of the U.S. are discounted as novelty entertainment for audiences seeking sex and violence. 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. The film concentrates on a Black community without the interactions between communities shown in Do the Right Thing, another epic race commentary. The direction of the film is fluid and natural, the acting heartfelt and strong, the affect extraordinary. The message of the movie is deeper than White or Italian based gangland movies, because the human aspect and the characters are more solid and approachable, and rooted in highly intellectual and applicable theories on race and violence. This film is a showcase of the radical and moderate themes expressed by Black activists, with Laurence Fishburne's character as the leader and role model of the film. A careful examination of the film reveals a strong message and a strong film. Don't underestimate the power of this film.

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.

John Singleton's Boyz n the Hood remains one of the best fictionalized and most poignant summaries of some of America's toughest internal problems - racism, violence, poverty, and drug abuse. 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. losing the identities of big personalities like Fishburne and Ice Cube is no mean feat. Many of the performances recorded here are award-worthy - Fishburne, Bassett, Chesnutt, Gooding, and Ice Cube are especially memorable. For me personally, this is the film that convinced me that Ice Cube was destined to become a major personality in American cinema. While I had enjoyed some of his music prior to this film, it was here that I was first exposed to his versatility and intelligence as an actor.

While some may see some of the film's messages as heavy-handed, and others might have issues with the fact that the film deals with so many of the problems of inner-city life in a very 'in-your-face' almost archetypal manner, I find these criticisms impossible to justify.

This is a great film about real issues, sensitively portrayed and thoughtfully examined. Every American who cares about the vast untapped potential of our people ought to take a long, hard look at this one. These are not 'black problems', they are everybody's problems, and their solutions will require everybody's understanding. I could think of far worse places to begin developing that understanding than Boyz n the Hood.

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. Lawrence Fishburne and Morris Chestnut add further depth to a strong cast.

All in all a very real, gritty depiction of the challenges faced at every turn by African American men and women in modern America. 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.

A movie that takes place in South Central Los Angeles in 1991. I don't know about now but, at that time, that area was crime ridden with drug deals and murders happening almost daily. Father Jason Styles (Larry Fishburne) tries to bring up his son Tre (Cuba Gooding Jr.) correctly despite all the violence around them. It also deals with two friends of Tre--Darin (Ice Cube) an angry young black man and his brother Ricky (Morris Chestnut) who wants to go to college. It all leads up to a truly harrowing ending.

Director John Singleton's first movie is incredibly powerful and still his best movie (so far). From what I've heard he captured exactly what it was like to grow up in that area. It's a little dated though--the guy sucking on the pacifier confuses some people but that was a big fad back in 1991. It's just unbelievable that kids grew up in an area like that and survived. The story itself is a little too simplistic (the good and bad brothers) and it's basically just the story of a teenager coming of age--but it still works. Singleton wisely doesn't accuse anyone of how the situation is and offers no solutions. He just presents it in a matter of fact way which makes this all the more powerful.

The acting is just great. Fishburne and Gooding play a father and son perfectly. Fishburne is just incredible--Gooding falters a few times (and it's obvious that he's no teenager) but he's still very good. Ice Cube is a little one note in his character (always angry and sullen) but it fits. Chestnut is just great.

People should be warned--there's tons of profanity (but that is how kids talk) and the ending gets very bloody and disturbing. I still remember people crying out loud in the audience back in 1991. A powerful film and well worth seeing.

"Boyz n the Hood" seems to pride itself as a morality play, but it's the characters that had me glued to the screen. Laurence Fishburne is magnetic, and I couldn't get enough of his sermonizing as a single father defiantly raising his kid in a hopeless world. And even though it's Cuba Gooding Jr.'s soul at stake throughout all of this, it's Ice Cube I really felt sympathy for in the end. At that point, for a rapper-cum-fledgling actor, he really brought out the sadness in his thug character.

Subtlety isn't the movie's strong suit, and that feeling of dread knots itself in your stomach right on cue. But Singleton does a great job saying that this isn't just a depressed (and violent) neighborhood - there are real people living here. And it says a lot that every time you see a low angle shot of palms, rundown street, plane flying overhead, you conjure this particular movie; even after all the imitators. A standard was set, certainly.

7/10.

Tre (Cuba) goes to live with his Dad (Lawrence Fishbourne) outside of LA. He grows up next to his 2 best friends who are brothers in a neighborhood where hearing cop sirens and gunshots was a regular occurrence. Watching the struggles and constant bombardment of violence that these kids grew up facing was eye-opening. Violence was a constant reality for even the "good" kids.

The acting was great. Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding Jr were phenomenal. This is the first big role for both of them and their performances set them both apart as both exceptional actors.

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")

Good movie, good casting. The first movie in which we see actors like Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr, Ice Cube, Angela Bassett and others in prominent roles. It's a film with some resemblance to Spike Lee's "do the right thing," made just 2 years earlier. This "boyz n the hood" does not reach the same level as Spike Lee's film, but it has many merits. Perhaps it could have been more "bold" on this issue of the problem of black neighborhoods in the United States.

1991

"One out of every twenty-one Black American males will be murdered in their lifetime"

"Most will die at the hands of another Black male"

"Increase The Peace" is the closing message of John Singleton's powerful, intelligent and affecting call for calm in South Central Los Angeles. Often mistakenly presumed by those who haven't seen it to be a film that glamorises violence, Singleton's debut film takes us into South Central and holds us there by just shooting the story. No trickery or overtly moralistic posturing from the director (and writer), just an unpretentious look at life in a modern ghetto.

The story follows three black teenagers as they ponder on what life holds for them as adulthood lurches from around the corner. 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. Parents, girls, careers, not returning to the pen! But this is no ordinary coming of age drama, we have been party to this neighbourhood that these boys live in. This is a place where a trip to the store can get you killed in a drive by shooting. A place where those keen to learn and do their homework have their muse shattered by the frequent sound of gunshots and sirens filling the South Central night.

Though Singleton can be accused of painting some of his characters as too saintly, he should be forgiven since this is after all, a message movie. Besides which his portrait of this particular neighbourhood is done from honest memory since he himself be a former youth of South Central LA. There in lies one of Boyz's trump cards, Singleton, through his own observations, asks of those in "The Hood" to take responsibility for what they do. Something that is potently given narrative credence courtesy of Tre's father's (a fabulous understated Laurence Fishburne) deep musings. Once the built up tension explodes with the inevitable tragedy that all should be ready for, the impact is like a sledgehammer hitting bone. Not in a blood letting for impact sake, but with the aftermath as a family soaks up the situation. It gives 90s cinema one of its most affecting and damning scenes, one that once viewed is hard to fully shake out of the memory bank. 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 the 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. I agree with the last assessment. 9/10

After watching this again after 10 years, there is so much more that John Singleton had added that I never picked up when I was younger. Some brutal moments but followed by solid, down to earth acting which levels it out nicely. Laurence Fishburne's best movie without a doubt, and beyond all the young African-American city talk there is a lot of solid dialogue that makes you think.

Highly rate!

But not "dumb" in a purposefully insulting way. "Dumb" as in it feels like it was made by a child. Everything is incredibly obvious, on the nose, cheesy and you can see it coming from a mile away. This movie doesn't do subtle, or thoughtful, or anything really. It honestly feels like something a 6th grader would make. At first I was bored, then I was angry and by the time the end credits rolled I was laughing out loud at how silly it is. Halfway through I gave up on the promise of any story and just sort of stick out to see who gets the bullet as it really seemed that's the only way this movie could've ended.

You want to add 7 points to that because of the real issues and human tragedies it deals with? Feel free to do so. But theme aside, this is a surprisingly poor movie.

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. Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood. They had all this foreign sh-t. 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. Furious, who lives in the heart of South Central LA, is a man that knows the values of how to respect and how to earn it. He's strict, but he's fair. Furious works as a mortgage broker.

We watch Tre mature from a young boy to his senior year in high school taking the SAT's. His two best friends are brothers. Ricky (Morris Chestnut) is a great athlete and is getting into college to support his girlfriend and infant son. The other brother, Doughboy (Ice Cube), is headed down a totally opposite path of guns, drugs, gangs, and violence. He's in and out of prison each year.

Furious knows that his son could get killed easily, as he was once involved with the gang scene himself. He wants Tre to graduate college and be good in whatever his profession may be.

As the story goes more in depth, we see that even if you aren't involved in a gang, you could still be a target. Whether it's your brother, cousin, sister, or other family member that is thee one involved with the violence, the main target could be the person in the family who stays away from the dangers of the street.

Tre and his friends are in a world where being violent is sometimes the way to live. Helicopters are heard searching for murderers every night. The police are so busy, that sometimes a 9-1-1 call could mean waiting for the police to arrive. There is even one Black-cop, who uses his power to try and intimidate young Blacks who he thinks might be involved in the gangs and violence.

This is the ultimate ghetto film, which will never be topped. All of the direction and screenplay is brilliant. Singleton doesn't use cheap scenes that get the viewer off-topic and the audience, as a whole, is always into the movie. Come into a world that most of us haven't been in. Follow the life of one boy who turns into a man as he has to not only goes through personal struggles, but has to worry about whether he'll be killed at any moment. -Pat

10/10

It's hard to believe that John Singleton's work degenerated so in later years, because his debut was a masterpiece. 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. If the movie has any problem, it's that it opened the flood gates to a series of similar inferior movies (but also the hilarious satire "Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood").

Anyway, this is the one that I recommend. Cuba Gooding Jr. made a very good debut. Also starring Laurence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long and Angela Bassett.

The first movie by John Singleton it is also the first movie that clearly portrays the life in a poor black neighborhood. If it seems to you now like it includes some formula like parts, remember that this is the movie that created this "formula" by which many other hood movies got filmed.

It is done in a wonderful way. While some elements of this life are already very well known to the point that they may become a cliche in a movie, in this case the director manages to portray it all very realistic and easy to connect to the people in the movie. There is great acting and a special mention should be of Ice Cube for whom this was his acting debut. He portrays Dough in a brilliant way. He may be the guy who went the wrong road but we can see him being a good person and not having made these choices just on his own but being part of the system that pushed him into it. 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

An intriguing look at life amongst the black urban classes in Los Angeles, BOYZ N THE HOOD might well be described as the black STAND BY ME. 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. The acting from the young black cast, including Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, and Ice Cube, is fresh and invigorating, as these guys actually manage to capture the fire and conflict within the souls of their characters. Nothing much that happens in BOYZ N THE HOOD will shock or surprise, as sadly the daily news is much, much worse, but this is a remarkably tough social drama that manages to be heartfelt at the same time. Authenticity is key.

John Singleton really isn't my thing. I mean, the movie came out in '91 but didn't get much exposure out in the country where I grew up until it was on HBO. 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 fact is the film was absolutely amazing. And, honestly, it was the first film I saw about gangs, from a non-police POV, that didn't glorify them. And it remains one of the few gangland movies I've seen that doesn't glorify the lifestyle.

And I understand that they are two completely different beasts, but the film felt like it was taking the issue of gangs and giving it a "The Godfather" treatment...and it worked.

It worked brilliantly. You can both relate to the characters--although I'm probably not supposed to say that--and see that the gang culture is a horrible thing.

Unlike "Poetic Justice" it has a point. And unlike "Higher Learning," it doesn't cast as racist of a finger.

It actually deals with issues and tells a story and, honestly, to watch it is to love it.

Sitting down to watch Boyz 'N the Hood right now feels fitting. I appreciate what it has to say about the struggles of the black community and gentrification. In fact, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was a bit choked up when Laurence Fishburne goes on his rant. I wish there was more of that in the film. Sadly, it felt like the rest of the movie was a fairly by-the-numbers story about young people growing up in a dangerous community with a lot of bad influences. Coming-of-age is already a genre that I don't typically enjoy, and adding in the depressing nature of this particular film, I had a tough time with it. Admittedly, I was emotionally invested in the journey of the characters, and I shed a few tears at one point when tragedy struck. Yet I saw it coming. Every beat of this movie felt like something I've seen before in other films, so it was extremely predictable. Many of those movies might have been drawing inspiration from this one, but I just happen to be in a place now where this all seemed rote. I guess at this point I'm looking for a more unique or nuanced approach to these topics, or even films that shine a light on how we can move forward rather than the pessimistic note we are left with here. I can't deny that Boyz 'N the Hood is a well-made movie, and I imagine if I saw it back in the early 90s when I was a teen it would have struck a chord with me and shifted my worldview in some way. Seeing it now, I'm simply left wanting something more, and that may be a problem with me and not the movie itself.

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.

The film has a certain aged charm about it; and with actors you'd easily recognise today looking very different in 1991, this adds to the feeling. These actors/celebrities are: Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr, and Ice Cube. I was surprised at how everything in this film just managed to pool together and just work. The film doesn't really adopt a neo-realistic approach but what it does do is tie together an unpredictable and often heart-warming script, great character development and some genuinely entertaining situations that don't let your eyes off the screen.

Some examples of this can be when the main group of characters are out for revenge and stalk a rival group whilst they innocently have their meals on the pavement or when the father of then ten year old Tré (Gooding Jr.) is desperately trying to bring his child up well and teach him the right things he needs to learn whilst we are desperately longing him to listen. The way in which the four main characters in the group also progress; bouncing off one another in life and scraps as they try to find their way is not only compelling viewing but the attention to detail by including unnecessary dialogue and real life conversations in real life situations is remarkable. The life in which these people lead is also put across in a very disturbing and realistic way that makes you glad you're not part of what is going on. This is done thanks to visuals and background noise and sound effects. Often a police car siren will begin to wail; signalling there's probably been another shooting or crime that has happened; there will also be, what I presume, a police helicopter fly overhead every once in a while – forced into keeping an eye on things and events even though everything's probably fine. This feeling of being trapped and constantly in danger whilst being watched most of the time plays on the character's minds and is relayed onto us in an often effective manner.

In terms of visuals, there are constant threats and reminders that danger, literally, lurks around every corner. Tré attempts to take some food from one house and walk it about a hundred yards back to his own for his father but along the way is greeted by a car containing a few 'gang bangers' possessing a sawn off shotgun that is consequently aimed at him. He also manages to save a child that had escaped from its mother from getting run down in the road – it turns out the mother has just too many to deal with and very solemnly shuts the door on Tré without much of a 'thank you'. 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. It combines multiple conventions and mixes them in well with one another as we see the lives progress of these four people we would never normally give five seconds of our time to.

I appreciated the performances from Laurence Fishburne and Cuba Gooding, Jr. in this. They were both very good. I would also give credit to director John Singleton. This was his first movie, and he coaxed good performances from the entire cast, making me a little bit surprised that he hasn't really directed much of note since then. The movie opens with captions offering a sobering look at life in "the hood", and then proceeds offer us a look at that life in this black neighbourhood of Los Angeles, where violence, drug addiction and a general feeling of hopelessness is an everyday reality. That look is offered mostly through the character of Tre (Gooding) - a young man who seems to keep out of trouble for the most part but watches as his friends and neighbours often get sucked in to what's going on around them.

Tre was perhaps too good for my liking. As the movie begins, Tre (as a young boy) is sent to live with his father (Fishburne) so that his mother can finish her education and his father can teach him how to be a man. Frankly, Tre seemed to me too easy to teach. He really didn't seem to be much of a challenge for his dad. Perhaps a bit more emphasis on the relationship between Tre and his dad would have given the movie a bit more intensity. That's what seemed to be basically lacking for me. Until quite near the end of the movie, I wasn't finding this especially intense. I found it sad - especially the brief glimpse of the drug addicted mother who let her baby wander into the streets and didn't really seem to care all that much - but not really intense. That does change near the end of the movie, especially with the story of Ricky (Morris Chestnut) - a talented young football player who has a chance to get out with a football scholarship to USC. But up to that last half hour or so, I wasn't really finding this movie especially powerful.

Perhaps the intensity was lacking because the movie is more than 20 years old and is a bit dated, or, more likely, perhaps as a white person I simply can't relate to the environment that was being depicted. Whatever the reason though that lack of intensity and personal connection with the movie and characters (in spite of the good performances) pulls this down a notch or two for me. (5/10)