[.ca] Boyz N The Hood

Amazon.com Essential Video:
John Singleton, at the age of 23, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his debut film, Boyz N the Hood. The film stars Laurence Fishburne, Angela Basset, Ice Cube, and Academy Award-winning actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in his first starring role in a feature film. Gooding plays Tre Styles, a teenager growing up in South Central Los Angeles. His father, Furious (Fishburne), is divorced and living away from Tre and his mother (Basset), but he's still involved in Tre's upbringing, teaching him the values of right and wrong and responsibility. Meanwhile, Tre's childhood buddies Ricky (Morris Chestnut) and Doughboy (Ice Cube) are living their lives in terms of the epidemic of violence and poverty that has plagued their neighborhood. Ricky, a talented football player, strives to get a full athletic scholarship to college. If only his SAT scores were higher. Doughboy lives a life full of crime but still remains true to his friends. The obstacles that these three young men come across result in dire consequences, devastatingly avoidable and inevitable at the same time. Boyz N the Hood is a landmark film beyond its commercial success, presenting a portrait of South Central in the late '80s and early '90s as painted by Singleton (who grew up in that neighborhood), achieving accuracy and dramatic resonance in this story of at-risk youth. --Shannon Gee

Very real:
This is one of the greatest african american movies out there. Truth about everyday lives of black people strggling in the infamous south central. Cuba, cube and fishburne deliever an outstanding preformance of what really goes on in the hood. I recomended it to anyone who love african american stuggle drama, i'd rate it a 10/10. Watch this movie, its a definite.

Remarkable Film From First-Time Director.:
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.

One of the best:
This movie really is one of the best movies ever infact I would call it the black GODFATHER wich is a very good thing to say it is just an excellent movie one of my favorite movies ever Story 10 Acting 10 Direction 10 Action 10 Entertainment 10 Overall=50/50 This a perfect movie and a greatly directed movie with excellent performances by Cuba Gooding JR.-Laurence Fishburne and Ice Cube as Dough Boy I want to buy this one

How to Survive in South Central.:
South Central L.A.: Where murder rates are five times the nationwide average, or in absolute figures, double the entire U.S.'s death rate for breast cancer (L.A. Times, January 1, 2004.) Where "I'll have my brother shoot you" isn't just an empty threat, and guns are passed from one sibling to another when an older brother goes away to "do time." Where owning a gun is a means of self-protection even for those who've always stayed clear of gangs. Where "where ya' from?" is an inquiry about gang membership, not geographic origin, and wearing the wrong colors can cause you to be "hit up;" resulting in violence, and more violence by way of retaliation. Where over the past 15 years the LAPD has accumulated a backlog of 4,400 unsolved homicides - roughly 3/4 of the city's total - because, as kids learn early, a bullet doesn't come with a name attached; and those who know the killer generally stay mum, either fearing reprisal or preferring to take care of their own, rather than leave justice to a police and a court system they've learned to mistrust anyway. And where crimes like burglary only merit police attention if something actually was stolen, and are quickly sidelined upon the officers' summons to another murder scene. South Central L.A. is the home of Tre Styles (Cuba Gooding Jr.) and his friends, "Doughboy" and Ricky Baker (Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut). We first meet them at age ten, when Tre's mother (Angela Bassett) sends him to live with his father Jason, a/k/a "Furious" (Laurence Fishburne), who seems better equipped to raise a son in a neighborhood like this. When we see them again they're seventeen, Tre and Ricky about to graduate from high school, while Doughboy has already graduated - from shoplifting to guns and small-time drug deals. And while Furious guides Tre towards moral choices, responsibility and (self-)respect, Doughboy and Ricky are raised by a mother who lacks the wherewithal to steer them out of the ghetto. Yet, Ricky in particular is naively, fiercely resolved to make it out of there; with a football scholarship (provided his SAT scores are high enough) or if that fails, by joining the army. And in a poignant, spot-on conclusion it is ultimately Ricky who forces Tre and Doughboy to choose their own paths in life, to either be drawn into the ghetto's spiral of violence, or conquer their inner demons and extricate themselves from that vicious circle. Upon this movie's 1991 release, several Los Angeles cinemas either refused to show it at all or hired extra security guards: That big, in a city that had recently seen the Rodney King beating, was about to be rocked by the Christopher Commission's scathing indictment of its police department, and was gearing up to the riots that would ravage its inner city the following spring, were fears of the reaction to John Singleton's partly autobiographical film. Yet, while "Boyz N the Hood" paints a starkly accurate picture of inner city life's daily realities, it in no way encourages violence - much to the contrary. That it's told from a profoundly "black" perspective is a given; and with that come charges that those of us with a more fortunate childhood often dismiss as the chip on many black people's shoulders (e.g. the notion that drugs, liquor and guns in the ghetto are tacitly encouraged by society's white-dominated ruling circles to keep inner-city minorities subdued). But while neither such charges nor their "white" response are the be-all and end-all of the problem, there is no question that drugs, alcoholism and guns are major issues in the 'hood, as are teen pregnancies and unemployment; and Singleton intelligently weaves all of these elements into a compelling picture. Equally well-deserved as the praise for Singleton, who garnered Best Director and Best Screenplay Oscar nominations and several other distinctions, are the kudos to the movie's outstanding actors. Then-23-year-old Cuba Gooding Jr. came practically out of nowhere to give a fully accomplished, emphatic portrayal as Tre, caught between the lessons of ghetto life and those of his father. (Although this wasn't his first movie, he had never before appeared in a remotely as prominent role.) Morris Chestnut's naively determined football-hero-to-be Ricky is similarly compelling; and Laurence Fishburne noticeably didn't have to reach far for his "Furious" Styles: While based on Singleton's father, the role was created specifically with him in mind. So, reportedly, was Ice Cube's Doughboy; and he, too, is a perfect match, giving the teenage trio's most troubled member a depth clearly informed by his own South Central boyhood (although despite his songs' inflammatory lyrics, he himself stayed clear of gangs). Angela Bassett finally is the perfect foil for the movie's male characters, exemplifying a woman who through hard work gets as far out of the ghetto as conceivable and unlike her ex-husband doesn't avoid the moneyed upper-crust, but doesn't forget her origins, either (and is still perfectly capable of talking tough when challenged). The movie's last words are Ice Cube's, both spoken as Doughboy and rapped in "How to Survive in South Central," underlying the closing credits. "Either they don't know, don't show or don't care what's going on \ohere\c," Doughboy comments on a TV program about exotic faraway places he's seen shortly after experiencing the kind of violence that he knows will haunt him forever. And in his rap song, sarcastically premised on a guided tour to the "concrete Vietnam" South Central L.A. ("Have you witnessed a drive-by? Okay, make sure you have your camcorder ready!"), Ice Cube warns: "Rule number one: get yourself a gun ... 'cause jackers ... love to start \othings\c. Now, if you're white you can trust the police; but if you're black they ain't nothin but beasts. ... So don't take your life for granted, 'cause it's the craziest place on the planet ... This is Los Angeles." - "Boyz N the Hood" was released 13 years ago. It is as topical as ever.

Cuba Goodin:
is such a good actor this movie is still a classic of what goes on in hoods all around the world if you dont see this movie regardless of race you have a lack of respect for yourself Starring:Lawrence Fishbourne,Ice Cube,Cuba Gooding Jr. 10 of 10 acting 10 of 10 movie