Few movies accurately portray the everyday struggles of minorities living in a world divided by racial inequality and segregation in modern day. Movies about racial struggles in the past? Plentiful. But movies showing the struggles of one race are hard to find. Perhaps this is why Boyz N the Hood is such a stirring tale of hardships and truths; because in this film the racial conflicts aren’t between those of different races but those struggles within one neighborhood of African-Americans where ideas for what the future will be like differ from person to person.
Jason ‘Furious’ Styles (Laurence Fishburne) is a divorced father trying to raise his son with morals, goals, and ambitions that will set him apart from the world he lives in. Furious doesn’t want us son to grow up and join a gang, he has higher expectations, even if his son can’t understand that.
As the years go by and Tré Styles (Gooding Jr.) grows up, he does in fact follow the path set out for him by Furious; he’s in high standing in his high school and it seems as if he has a bright future ahead of him. While he’s excited for his future, the same can’t be said of his friends or their lives. Darin Baker (Ice Cube) one of Tré’s childhood friends doesn’t have any goals outside of his neighborhood, though he’s perfectly okay with that; he’s accepted the life in the ‘hood and seems content to stay there. On the other hand we have Ricky Baker (Chestnut), Darin’s brother, an aspiring football star with a possible scholarship to USC.
Tré, Darin, and Ricky spend their last few months as a trio in their small LA suburb and deal with the poverty, alcoholism, and crime that runs rampant therein. Each has their own unique perspectives on life in the ‘hood’ and acts accordingly with the challenges they face. As the three go along, they eventually wind up on the wrong side of a gang’s good graces and the trio’s troubles take off, banding together not only in the struggles of everyday life, but now to stay alive long enough to enjoy their futures. The film comes to a moving climactic moment and the ending is genuinely heartbreaking.
Laurence Fishburne could call this the role of his lifetime; Furious is inspiring, frightening, and the kindest and most intelligent soul to appear in film in a long time. I’d go as far as to call him a new generation’s Atticus Finch. Furious endears himself to all he meets through his honest and wise words and unflinching ideals that lead him abd those he influences to do whatever is right. He was well cast for this part and he portrays the kind of mentor that everyone should be so lucky to have.
Cuba Gooding Jr. also excels in his role as Tré and does a beautiful job keeping his emotions perfectly inline with Boyz N the Hood. The idea that Tré wants to remain a true friend and yet not get caught up in the dangerous lifestyles they lead is an excellent source of inner turmoil and conflict which Cuba has no difficulty getting across. This is one of my favorite, if not the only “Cuba Gooding Jr. movie” I consider truly great. Ice Cube and Morris Chestnut play off each other like few others manage to achieve. They’re constantly clashing over ideals and expectations; while one has succumbed to a life of alcohol, crime, and drugs, the other is trying to go in the opposite direction. Both perform brilliantly here, but this is definitely a proud acting moment for rappers-turned-actors everywhere.
The story is as relevant today as it was a few years back, and that could be the saddest part of this movie. This movie happens everyday in ghettos across the nation and yet this film is the closest many Americans will ever get to seeing that side of the tracks.
I said this in my review for Das Boot on Blu-ray and it’s true here as well: Sony delivers the best HD conversions of older films when it converts them to Blu-ray. The gritty world of LA’s ghetto as it’s shown here feels very much alive and the pristine audio and visual presentation in hi-def make the story all the more immersive. Twenty years later and John Singleton’s urban masterpiece has only gotten better with age.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The only new addition and Blu-ray exclusive for the film is a retrospective featurette analyzing the significance of Boyz N the Hood and how it’s stood up to the test of time for 20 years. Everything else has been ported from previous releases and include two music videos, John Singleton’s terrific audio commentary, a behind the scenes piece, deleted scenes, and audition videos for Ice Cube, Angela Bassett, Tyler Ferrell, and Morris Chestnut.
"Boyz N the Hood" is on sale July 12, 2011 and is rated R. Drama. Written and directed by John Singleton. Starring Angela Bassett, Cuba Gooding Jr, Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Morris Chestnut.
