Boyz n the Hood is a 1991 American Drama film written and directed by John Singleton. Starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ice Cube, Laurence Fishburne, Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Angela Bassett and Regina King, 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.

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival.^[2] In 2002, the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.^[3]

Plot[link]

In 1984, ten-year-old Tré Styles (Desi Arnez Hines II) lives with his single mother Reva Devereax (Angela Bassett) in Inglewood, California. After misbehaving in school, she talks to his teacher. Tré's teacher tells Reva that he is immature and that he has no respect for the others in his class. Frightened about the future of her child, she sends him to live in the Crenshaw neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles with his father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne), a no-nonsense disciplinarian from whom she hopes Tré will learn life lessons. On the night of Tré's arrival, Tré hears his father firing at a burglar. The police arrive more than an hour later, and eventually decide the crime is unimportant because nothing was taken and the burglar escaped completely unharmed. The officers at the scene, particularly the African American officer, treat Furious with disrespect and contempt.

The following day, Tré reunites with childhood friends Ricky and Darrin "Doughboy" Baker, and Chris. Ricky and Doughboy, maternal half-brothers, live with their mother across the street from Furious. While Ricky is naïve and trusting, Doughboy is aggressive and street-smart. Quickly, he gets into a fight to return Ricky's football back, but he is beaten up. Ricky's ball is returned to him later by another boy. Furious, who appears to be the only father present in the neighborhood, takes Tré on a fishing trip, where they talk, and he warns him about unprotected sex and the dangers of it and discusses the responsibility of fatherhood to him. The pair then return to Crenshaw, where they find Doughboy and Chris being led by police officers into a squad car after having been caught stealing in the local shop.

7 years later, in 1991, a "welcome home" party is being held in the Baker home. Doughboy (Ice Cube), who had previously dropped out of high school, has just been released from prison, and sits at a table playing dominoes with his friends, Chris (Redge Green), now in a wheelchair, "Dookie" (Dedrick D. Gobert), and "Monster". Ricky (Morris Chestnut), now a star running-back for Crenshaw High School, lives at home with his mother Brenda (Tyra Ferrell), girlfriend Shanice (Alysia Rogers), and his newborn son. Ricky hopes to earn a scholarship to USC but is daunted by the requirement that he must earn a 700 on the SAT. Tré (Cuba Gooding Jr.) holds a steady job working at the Fox Hills Mall, and has stayed away from gangs and fights while excelling with good grades at school. He hopes to attend college as does his girlfriend Brandi (Nia Long), whose desire to remain abstinent is a source of tension between them, but also a sign of true love.

Later that night during a local street racing gathering, Ricky is provoked by a Bloods gang member named Ferris (Raymond Turner). In defense of his brother, Doughboy (an opposing Crips gang member), brandishes an Uzi 9mm Machine Pistol, and the whole scene degenerates into gunfire. While speeding away from the scene, Tré and Ricky are pulled over by the LAPD. The lead officer is the same officer who responded to Furious' 911 burglary call 7 years ago. He shoves a gun in Tré's face and asks him what he will do about it. On the verge of tears, Tré arrives late to Brandi's house and suffers a mental breakdown; later that night they have sex for the first time.

The next day, Ricky, annoyed by his girlfriend, provokes a fight with Doughboy. Brenda rushes to Ricky's aid while berating Doughboy. Ricky and Tré later head to the grocery store, but encounter Ferris and his friends. They cut though back alleys and separate to avoid them but Ricky is gunned down. Doughboy and his friends recover Ricky's body, with Brenda blaming Doughboy, who tries to comfort her but is rebuffed. Later that night, Brenda sobs over Ricky's test results, discovering he earned a 710, just enough to qualify for the scholarship.

Doughboy, Dookie, Monster and Tré vow revenge on the enemy gang. Furious finds Tré holding his .357 Magnum pistol and convinces Tré to abandon his plans, but Tré sneaks out of his bedroom window to join Doughboy and the gang. Later that night, as the gang drives around the city, Tré realizes he is making a mistake and asks to be let out of the car. Doughboy pulls over and lets Tré out at a bus stop. Doughboy finds the gang, and Monster guns them down with an AK-47 in a drive-by shooting, killing one and wounding the others. Doughboy personally executes Ferris and the other Blood, avenging his brother's death.

The next morning, Doughboy visits Tré, now understanding Tré's reasons for abandoning the gang. Doughboy - having killed three men - knows that he will soon face retaliation for Ferris' death, and accepts the consequences of his crime-ridden life. He plaintively questions why America "don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the Hood." He sorrowfully says that he has no brothers left now after Ricky's death, but is embraced by Tré, who says Doughboy still has "one brother left." The epilogue describes his murder at the hands of the rival gang two weeks after Ricky's funeral but goes on to state that both Tré and Brandi go on to college at Morehouse and Spelman in Atlanta, respectively.

Cast[link]

• Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Desi Arnez Hines II, young) as Tré Styles, son of Furious and Crenshaw High School senior.
• Morris Chestnut (Donovan McCrary, young) as Ricky Baker, maternal half-brother of Doughboy and all-star football player at Crenshaw High School, Tré's best friend.
• Ice Cube (Baha Jackson young) as Darrin "Doughboy" Baker, maternal half-brother of Ricky.
• Laurence Fishburne as Jason "Furious" Styles, father of Tré.
• Nia Long as Brandi, Tré's girlfriend.
• Tyra Ferrell as Brenda Baker, mother of Doughboy and Ricky.
• Angela Bassett as Reva Devereaux-Styles, mother of Tré.
• Redge Green (Kenneth A. Brown, young) as Chris.
• Dedrick D. Gobert as Dookie.
• Baldwin C. Sykes as Monster.
• Tracey Lewis-Sinclair as Shaniqua.
• Alysia Rogers as Shanice, Ricky's girlfriend and the mother of his son.
• Regina King as Shalika.
• Lexie Bigham as Mad Dog.
• Raymond Turner as Ferris.
• Mia Bell as female gang member.
• Duncan Ferris as furious drug dealer.

Reception[link]

Critical response[link]

Boyz n the Hood has received widespread critical acclaim. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 96% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 48 reviews, with an average score of 8.3/10, making the film a "Certified Fresh" on the website's rating system.^[4] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 73, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "Generally favorable reviews".^[5]

Cultural impact[link]

• On July 12, 2011, on The Mo'Nique Show, Mo'Nique celebrated the 20th anniversary of the release of Boyz n the Hood with director John Singleton, Cuba Gooding Jr., Yo-Yo, and Regina King.
• Game has mentioned it on some of his songs such as "LAX Files", "Ol' English" & "Ricky".
• Ice Cube has mentioned it on some of his songs on The Predator such as "When Will They Shoot?," and his son's rap name is "Doughboy".
• Lupe Fiasco mentioned it in his mixtape track "Double Burger With Cheese"

Trivia[link]

• It has been stated by John Singleton that all of N.W.A. were supposed to play Doughboy's friends in the movie but Ice Cube left N.W.A. which caused tension between them.
• During the time of this movie Ice Cube was feuding with Eazy-E & N.W.A. which is the reason why the crackhead that got beat up by Doughboy and his crew was wearing a shirt that says We Want Eazy.
• John Singleton was 23 when he directed the movie.
• The adult and younger Doughboy wear Raiders hats, which is Ice Cube's favorite football team.
• This is the first of many films such as Friday and Are We There Yet? that Ice Cube and Nia Long have appeared in together.

Awards and accolades[link]

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^[6]

• 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 in your lifetime Channel 4.

Soundtrack[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Boyz n the Hood

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