Baby Boy (film)
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| Baby Boy | |
|---|---|
 Promotional film poster |
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| Directed by | John Singleton |
| Produced by | John Singleton |
| Written by | John Singleton |
| Starring | Tyrese Gibson Omar Gooding Taraji P. Henson A.J. Johnson with Snoop Dogg and Ving Rhames |
| Cinematography | Charles Mills |
| Editing by | Bruce Cannon |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 27, 2001 |
| Running time | 129 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $16,000,000 |
| Gross revenue | Domestic $28,734,552 Foreign $647,097 Worldwide $29,381,649 |
Baby Boy is a 2001 urban drama film written, produced, and directed by John Singleton. It has been considered a sequel of sorts to Singleton's earlier, more famous work, Boyz n the Hood.
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[edit] Plot
An immature young adult named Jody (Tyrese Gibson) lives with his mother Juanita (Adrienne-Joi Johnson) in South Central Los Angeles. He spends most of his time with his unemployed best friend Sweetpea (Omar Gooding) and does not seem interested in becoming a responsible adult. However, he is forced to mature as a result of a number of factors, one in particular being his mother's new boyfriend, an ex-con named Melvin (Ving Rhames) who moves into their home. Another factor is his children - a boy with his current girlfriend Yvette (Taraji P. Henson) and a baby girl with a young lady named Peanut. Yvette constantly asks Jody if he will ever come live with her and their son, but Jody avoids the subject and comes and goes as he pleases. Jody also continues seeing other women, including Peanut. This becomes an issue between him and Yvette as well.
Eventually, Yvette's gangster ex-boyfriend Rodney (Snoop Dogg), is released from prison and returns to the neighborhood to challenge Jody. Rodney attempts to rape Yvette in front of her son, and also tries to kill Jody in a drive-by shooting; however, he is unsuccessful with both efforts. Jody and Sweetpea confront Rodney, and as he attempts to escape, Jody shoots him in the ankle. Sweetpea urges Jody to kill Rodney, but he refuses, at which point Sweetpea kills Rodney himself. After reflecting on the death of Rodney and how he put Yvette and his son in danger by not being around consistently, Jody finally moves out of his mom's house and in with Yvette. Jody has now become a mature man, realizing that his mom's relationship with Melvin is a stable one and that he has a family of his own that he needs to protect and take care of.
[edit] Casting
- The lead role was originally written for Tupac Shakur in 1996, but when he died, production for the film was put on hold. Jody listens to a lot of Tupac Shakur songs and has a mural on his wall of him.
- Tamala Jones auditioned for the role of Yvette. Ironically, Tamala Jones's sister, Tracey Jones, portrays the character Sharika, Yvette's best friend.
- Singleton originally wrote the role of Rodney for Ice Cube.
- The cast won a special award at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2001. The film was also in the running for the Golden Leopard, the festival's top prize.
[edit] Cast
| Role | Cast |
|---|---|
| Joseph "Jody" Summers | Tyrese Gibson |
| Sweetpea | Omar Gooding |
| Yvette | Taraji P. Henson |
| Rodney | Snoop Dogg |
| Melvin | Ving Rhames |
| Juanita | Adrienne-Joi Johnson |
| Patrice | Mo'Nique |
| Kim | Angell Conwell |
| Peanut | Tamara LaSeon Bass |
[edit] Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip hop and R&B music was released on June 19, 2001 by Universal Records. It peaked at #41 on the Billboard 200 and #12 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums.
[edit] External links
- Baby Boy at Sony Pictures
- Baby Boy (film) at the Internet Movie Database
- Baby Boy (film) at Allmovie
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