The Wood is a 1999 romantic comedy, written by Rick Famuyiwa and Todd Boyd. Famuyiwa also directed the film, which stars Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones, and Taye Diggs.

Plot[link]

Roland (Taye Diggs) is getting married(and is currently missing) and Slim (Richard T. Jones), who scoffs at the idea of marriage, but is furious at Roland for disappearing. The story reminisces back to Mike's (portrayed as a youth by Sean Nelson) first encounters with Roland (Trent Cameron) and Slim (Duane Finley), his first real crush on a girl named Alicia (Malinda Williams), and the three young men's misadventures as teenagers. Shy and awkward, Mike sticks out like a sore thumb on his first day, but is quickly befriended by Slim and Roland.

On a dare from Slim and Roland, Mike runs and grabs Alicia's butt, leading to a big fight with her big brother Stacey (De'Aundre Bonds), a violent gang member. While he is thoroughly beat down, Mike earns Stacey's private respect for fighting back like a man. Meanwhile in present day, Mike and Slim go find Roland for his wedding, when they get a call from Tanya (Tamala Jones) saying that she has him with her and that he is very drunk. They get to her house to pick him up to take him back to the wedding to marry his bride Lisa (LisaRaye) because they only have two hours before the ceremony begins.

Back to their old school times, they go to their first dance of the year, go to a store that gets held up by Stacey, who recognizes the boys and offers them a ride to the dance. The boys almost get arrested by two cops due to Stacey's broken tailight. Mike's quick thinking prevents one of the cops from finding Stacey's gun and they are let go. Impressed, Stacey begins a new friendship with Mike by apologizing for their prior run in but explained that he was protecting his sister, and, seeing how much Mike likes her, gives him advice on how to win her heart. When they get back to the dance it is almost over and Mike gets to dance with Alicia and at the end of the dance he gets her number. In the present day while reminiscing Roland gets sick, throws up all over Slim and Mike and now they only have an hour left before the wedding and they have to get cleaned up, then they take their clothes to the cleaners. Mike returning back to their memories, they were now juniors in high school, thinking about sex, ways to get it and making a lot of bets. Mike, now hiding his still present shyness with a veil of over confidence, reconnects romantically with Alicia. It's revealed in the present time that after High School, Alicia and Mike went their separate ways for good. The boys finally make it to the ceremony to have Roland apologize to a furious Lisa for leaving her worried before the wedding ceremony. Before the ceremony begins Mike sees Alicia (Sanaa Lathan) his childhood crush, and finally Roland and Lisa get married. Mike tells his last childhood memory, and its when they go to a homecoming dance for their school and that they will be the boys from "The Wood".

Cast[link]

• Omar Epps as Mike, and he tells the story about how he and his friends grew up together in “The Wood”.
• Richard T. Jones as Slim, he and Mike helps Roland get back to the ceremony to get married.
• Taye Diggs as Roland, he is supposed to get married and has second thoughts about it and is found drunk by his two best friends.
• Sanaa Lathan as Alicia, an old childhood friend that grew up and came back to see Mike.
• LisaRaye McCoy as Lisa, a bride getting ready to marry Roland, and gets upset about his disappearance.
• Sean Nelson as young Mike, is new from North Carolina, and just moved to Inglewood at a new school and became friends with Roland and Slim.
• Duane Finley as young Slim, raised up in “The Wood” best friends with Roland growing up and then meeting the new kid on the block Mike. He was always asking for Roland to hook him up.
• Trent Cameron as young Roland, he is hip, fresh, and cool, gets all the ladies, and he gets no play most of the time.
• Malinda Williams as young Alicia, she was hardcore, but sweet and in time she began to like Mike.
• De'Aundre Bonds as Stacey, and is Alicia's big brother that takes up for her when she is younger. He also is in a gang and reps with set called “Bloods”.
• Antwon Tanner as Boo, Stacey's homie and member of the “Bloods”.

Critical Reviews[link]

Critical Consensus Critics Reviews Average Grade: B- culturevulture.net, "...there is substance given to the characters' lives." more... B- Nitrate Online, Cynthia Fuchs "...involves basic boy-bonding." more... C+ Orlando Weekly, Philip Booth "...a coming-of-age tale that's only occasionally too sweet." more... B- ReelViews, James Berardinelli "...a pleasant but relatively inconsequential movie..." more... B- More Critics Reviews...

Awards and nominations[link]

2000 Black Reel Awards

• Best Actor (Theatrical) — Sean Nelson (nominated)
• Best Actress (Theatrical) — Malinda Williams (nominated)
• Best Director (Theatrical) — Rick Famuyiwa (nominated)
• Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted) — Rick Famuyiwa, Todd Boyd (nominated)

2000 NAACP Image Awards

• Outstanding Motion Picture (nominated)

2001 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

• Most Performed Songs from Motion Pictures — Joe, Jolyon Skinner: I Wanna Know (winner)

Soundtrack[link]

A soundtrack was released on July 13, 1999 by Jive Records featuring rap and R&B music. The soundtrack found great success, peaking at #16 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and was certified gold by the RIAA on August 25, 1999.

References[link]

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800019704/info

External links[link]

• The Wood at AllRovi
• The Wood at the Internet Movie Database
• The Wood at Rotten Tomatoes