Review of Boyz n the Hood (1991) by Cameron J — 02 Jun 2013

I could very easily make a song reference here, but I won't, because rap isn't technically music, and plus, if I couldn't already go the rest of my life without hearing another rap song, I'm pretty much spent after this film. Granted, this film's soundtrack isn't too played up, and when it is, it features '90s rap, which is not quite as bad as modern rap, but is still pretty weak, and that is where they get you, because if I am to ever to watch this film again, then that would mean that I would have to sit through its soundtrack again, and I would not mind watching this film... up to a point, of course. Yup, I tell you what, nothing says quality, Oscar-nominated Cannes Film Festival entry quite like "Boyz n the Hood", featuring Ice Cube and Cuba Gooding, Jr., and directed by John Singletone before "2 Fast 2 Furious" and 2011's "Abduction", but make no mistake, if you can get by its title and soundtrack, this film good one. Hey, I joke, but this film's title features a "the", rather than a "da", so clearly we're looking at a truly brilliant filmmaking team, as reflected by its member's going on to make perfectly good decisions in the entertainment business. Hey, Laurence Fishburne's character in this film is named Furious, so maybe John Singleton did "2 Fast 2 Furious" because he thought he was being asked to do a sequel to this film, or at least that's my attempt at finding an excuse for Singleton's "2 Fast 2 Furious", because, you know, it makes Singleton's decision making sound much more sensible. Eh, whatever, I'm just going to go ahead and accept that it was only a matter of time, as Singleton has never been the most subtle of storytellers, as this film will actually tell you. Don't get me wrong, this film is good and all, because as much as I hate to admit it, the hip-hop points in its soundtrack is hardly the biggest of its problems.

I won't go so far as to deem this film's story concept minimalist, because this is a pretty juicy coming-of-age drama that needs time to develop, and takes that time, yet I'm not entirely sure a runtime that stops just short of two hours is entirely necessary, as reflected by the moments in which the film slips into excess material, if not filler, that does little more than run out the clock and slow down momentum, often into repetition. The film is by no means too repetitious, but it does have a tendency to fall into aimless spells that sometimes stick around so long that you kind of get used to them, thus making the eventual shifts in actual plotting focus slightly jarring, and therefore detrimental to resonance that is hurt enough by a bit of undeniable cheesiness. Sure, the film's dramatic hiccups are hardly the cheesiest moments in the film, because even when you disregard the lame '90s neo-soul/R&B and hip hop soundtrack, musical aspects are considerably hurt by a weakly corny score by Stanley Clarke that still carried the stink of pop film score sensibilities of the '80s, and yet, when cheesiness does catch up with the dramatic aspects, they're sometimes in the form of, of all things histrionics. I say, "of all things", because this film is generally quite genuine and realist in its handling of its worthy subject matter, yet there are still those occasions in which the film's dramatic kick feels kind of questionable, or at least comes off as questionable, because if nothing else is mishandled in this film, it is, of course, it's subtlety. There is enough inspiration behind the overdone dramatic touches to compensate for the resonance lost in the fierce wake of subtlety lapses, but there is no fully ignoring the blatant overemphasis on the intense themes and drama that drive this film, which would be more effective if it wasn't so desperate to be effective, telegraphing its depths in a passionately overambitious way that takes you out of the resonance a bit, no matter how striking it may be on the whole. The aforementioned flaws outside of subtlety issues range from barely considerable to fairly light, but subtlety issues can be enough to hold a drama back, and sure enough, no matter how much this film presses on as rewarding, its full potential is ironically all but lost because of John Singleton's being unable to be as controlled as he probably should be in the handling of a worthy tale. In spite of this, as overambitious as this film is, when it fulfills its ambition, at least to a certain degree, it compels, and let me tell you, this film fulfills hits such compelling moments more often than not, as well it should, considering the importance of its subject matter.

The conditions of darkly stereotypical black communities, or rather, "hoods", have been swiftly exacerbating for decades, with the early '90s timeframe in which this film takes place, alone, being all but beyond saving, and that's frustrating, especially when you look within the community and find what lucky few, relatively cleaner blacks there are being challenged, if not threatened, and even influenced by an inhumanly harsh environment that blemishes society as we know it, so the subject matter explored in this film is certainly relevant and important, with worthy that join drama potential within the story concept itself to craft a premise that deserves an inspired execution. As I said, the film is every bit as overambitious as it is inspired, and that cheeses up the interpretation of this worthy story concept, but make no mistake, for every aspect that is too ambitious for its own good, there is an aspect backed by genuinely effective inspiration, even in the writing department, as John Singleton puts together a script that isn't especially outstanding, but is rich enough to do this premise some justice, juggling so many themes - which include life in an unsafe environment, questionable influences, coming of age and bonds between loved ones - that it sometimes gets uneven in its thematic focus, but never to where the thematic depth and dramatic weight of this story aren't fleshed out enough to intrigue and compel. If Singleton accomplishes nothing else as screenwriter, he delivers on characterization that, in spite of subtlety issues and even the occasional histrionic beat, breathes enough life into the essence of this film's characters for them to feel relatable on a human level, and it helps that the portrayals of such well-rounded characters are also graced with human inspiration. As intense as plenty of this film's characters are in a lot of ways, there's only so much for this talented cast to work with, yet there's a certain charisma to everyone, and when more than just charisma is requested, the performers really deliver on dramatic heart whose gradual escalation helps in reinforcing a sense of escalation in the final product's intensity. The impassioned, if often rather underwritten performances throughout the final product help in driving the human weight to this layered and thematically rich study on important social themes, but at the end of the day, it's a certain offscreen performance that really brings Singleton's script to life, and that is, of course, Singleton himself. As director, Singleton doesn't so much unveil shortcomings to be fixed later, as much as he gives you tastes of shortcomings that he's always had, particularly when it comes to subtlety, because if Singleton were more restrained in his meditations upon this subject matter, we would perhaps be looking at a pretty powerful drama, yet as things stand, the commitment to Singleton's storytelling tends to compensate for many of the shortcomings in subtlety through striking imagery and soul that make the heavier moments tense and the more resonant moments all but, if not decidedly piercing. At the very least, Singleton entertains you enough to keep his flaws as a storyteller from throwing you off too much, and when such entertainment value is broken up by dramatic effectiveness, compellingness finds itself firmly secured enough for the final product to take all of its blows and still come out as effective.

Overall, filler often drives storytelling into aimless spells, while the occasional histrionic dramatic beat marks a particularly height in subtlety issues that taint the final product throughout its course and could have crafted an overambitiously underwhelming effort, yet goes fought back enough by the thematically heavy writing, inspired acting and generally entertaining, when not dramatically effective directorial storytelling to do a worthy story concept enough justice for "Boyz n the Hood" to stand as flawed, but ultimately compelling dramatic study on the deplorable then-modern and still-worsening conditions of inner city black communities.

3/5 - Good.