Boyz n the Hood

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2007)

Boyz N the Hood
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	John Singleton
Produced by	Steven Nicolaides
Written by	John Singleton
Starring	Ice Cube Cuba Gooding, Jr. Morris Chestnut Laurence Fishbourne
Music by	Stanley Clarke
Cinematography	Charles Mills
Editing by	Bruce Cannon
Studio	Columbia Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	July 12, 1991
Running time	127 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$6,500,000[1]
Gross revenue	$57,504,069[2]

Boyz N the Hood is a 1991 crime film, written and directed by John Singleton. Starring Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Angela Bassett, Regina King, and Laurence Fishburne, the film depicts life in poor South Central (now South) Los Angeles, California, and was filmed and released in the summer of 1991. It was nominated for both Best Director and Original Screenplay during the 1991 Academy Awards, making Singleton the youngest person ever nominated for Best Director and the first African–American to be nominated for the award.

In 2002, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.^[3]

[edit] Plot

In the film, John Singleton portrays the life of three young black male youths, Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky, as they grow up in South Central, Los Angeles. Tre Styles (Gooding,Jr.) is an intelligent young student, but encounters disciplinary problems at a young age. His mother Reva Devereaux, decides it would be best for her son if Tre were to live with his father, Furious Styles. 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.

Seven Years later in 1991, the three boys lead very different lives. Tre is a high school senior aspiring to become a college man, Ricky an All-American football player, and Doughboy a crack dealing gangster. The film offers a keen insight on racial inequality, drugs, sex, and gang violence.

Doughboy (Ice Cube) 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 (Morris Chestnut) is a star running back at Crenshaw High School. He has a 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 (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) 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. Sadly, the climax of the film involves Ricky being shot and killed by members of a local gang who he had a small altercation with. It was because a gang leader bumped into Ricky. Ricky confronted the gang leader which lead to Doughboy getting involved, but there was no harm done to either one from that incident. The next day as Ricky and Tre were walking home, the gang from the previous night chased Ricky and Tre. Tre came out physically okay, but he lost his best friend. Ironically after the audience learns that he has achieved the 700 SAT score necessary to USC, Doughboy, Monster, and Dookie intend to avenge Ricky's death. Tre, who is Ricky’s best friend, takes his father's gun, but is stopped by his father before leaving the house. Tre's father convinces him not to take the gun and seek revenge and Tre seems to relent, but Tre 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 by gunning down his killers in cold blood.

The film ends the following morning with Tre and Dough Boy having a conversation, with Dough Boy understanding why Tre left the revenge mission and both lamenting the circumstances that exist in South Central and questioning whether or not they are locked in an unending cycle. 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).

[edit] Cast

• Laurence Fishburne as Furious Styles
• Ice Cube as Darrin "Doughboy" Baker
• Cuba Gooding, Jr. as Tré Styles
• Nia Long as Brandi
• Morris Chestnut as Ricky Baker
• Tyra Ferrell as Brenda Baker
• Angela Bassett as Reva Devereaux
• Desi Arnez Hines II as Young Tre Styles
• Donovan McCrary as Young Ricky Baker
• Dedrick D. Gobert as Dooky
• Tracey Lewis-Sinclair as Shaniqua
• Regina King as Shalika
• Jordan Matulich as Daddy
• Lance Package as Thomas
• Klown as Kool kid
• DJ Fuzz as Pimps–a–lot

[edit] Reception

Based on 45 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Boyz n the Hood has an overall approval rating of 98 percent, with a weighted average score of 8.4/10.^[4] By comparison, Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average score of 73 out of 100 from the 18 reviews it collected.^[5]

[edit] Awards

Academy Awards: 1992

• Nominee, Best Director, John Singleton
• Nominee, Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, John Singleton

BMI Film Music Award: 1992

• Winner, Stanley Clarke

Image Award: 1993

• Winner, Outstanding Motion Picture, Boyz n the Hood

MTV Movie Award: 1992

• Nominee, Best Movie, Boyz n the Hood
• Winner, Best New Filmmaker, John Singleton

National Film Preservation Board, USA: 2002

• National Film Registry, Boyz n the Hood

New York Film Critics Circle Award: 1991

• Winner, Best New Director, John Singleton

Political Film Society, USA: 1992

• Winner, PFS Award, Peace
• Nominee, PFS Award, Exposé
• Nominee, PFS Award, Human Rights

Writers Guild of America, USA: 1992

• Nominee, WGA Award (Screen), Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, John Singleton

Young Artist Awards: 1992

• Winner, Young Artist Award, Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture

In 2007, Boyz n the Hood was selected as one of the 50 Films To See Before You Die by Channel 4.

[edit] Soundtrack

The following is the track list to the almost completely hip hop exclusive soundtrack to Boyz n the Hood. Notable tracks include "Every Single Weekend," KAM's first appearance on record and "How to Survive in South Central," an Ice Cube song that later appeared on the remastered version of Death Certificate.

1. "How to Survive in South Central" by Ice Cube
2. "Just Ask Me To" by Tevin Campbell featuring Chubb Rock
3. "Mama Don't Take No Mess" by Yo-Yo
4. "Growin' Up in the Hood" by Compton's Most Wanted
5. "Just a Friendly Game of Baseball (Remix)" by Main Source
6. "Me and You" by Tony! Toni! Toné!
7. "Work It Out" by Monie Love
8. "Every Single Weekend" by Kam
9. "Too Young" by Hi-Five
10. "Hangin' Out" by 2 Live Crew
11. "It's Your Life" by Too Short
12. "Spirit (Does Anybody Care?)" by Force One Network
13. "Setembro (Brazilian Wedding Song)" by Quincy Jones
14. "Black on Black Crime" by Stanley Clarke

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Boyz n the Hood at the Internet Movie Database
• Boyz n the Hood at Rotten Tomatoes
• Boyz n the Hood at Metacritic
• Boyz N the Hood at Allmovie
• Boyz n the Hood at Box Office Mojo