Review of Boyz n the Hood (1991) by James F — 12 Mar 2010

I still remember the first time I saw this movie and was overwhelmed by the power of it, for me, it was a glimpse of a world I didn't even know existed. It was the early 90's, I was a naive kid and I just couldn't get my head round how this kind of carnage could be taking place in America's back yard.

Boyz takes place in 1984, telling the tale of Tre Styles, a young black man trying to make the most of his life in South Central L.A. during Ronald Regan's harsh American presidency.

Directed by then first timer, John Singleton, Boyz has since been acclaimed as being culturally significant by the Library of Congress and praised for bringing attention rather than glamorising the dangers of gangbanging.

When Tre goes to live with his father at a young age, he's not keen at all. His father works him hard whilst the other kids in the neighbourhood see to be out having fun and enjoying their misspent youth. It's tough love but it sets the tone for Tre's upbringing. As Tre grows up, we see his life in comparison to that of two of his best friends and half brothers; Ricky and Dough Boy.

Ricky and Dough live with their single mother and have no father figure to speak of. Ricky is gifted a football player but already a young father, he sees his talent as his ticket to college and a way out of the hood. His brother Dough Boy meanwhile, whilst not a bad guy, has fallen in to the all to easy routine of selling drugs and gangbanging.

The parallels are obvious, as is the message, a boy needs a father in his life to teach him responsibility for his actions, to raise him correctly and to keep him on the straight and narrow. Tre's father Furious Styles (played in a career best by Laurence Fishburn) is a strong willed man. Educated in life, he slowly guides his son, offering him advice on bettering himself and the community at large. He has high hopes for his boy, but at the same time he fears the environment around him, the tinderbox in which they live that is ready to lead Tre astray and flare up at any moment.

"What I'm trying to do is teach you how to be responsible. It's like your little friends across the street they don't have anybody to show them how to do that, they don't, and you're going to see how they end up too." -- Furious Styles.

When Ricky is provoked in to an altercation with a local gang, even though he manages to walk away due to his brother protection by carrying a pistol, the writing is on the wall. Whilst you can see it coming headlong, you just can't shake the terrible feeling of what a waste of life it is when the gang catch Ricky on his own and mercilessly gun him down. Ricky had so much potential, he'd been trying so hard and to see him stripped of his chance and seeing his mother, girlfriend and baby left behind is traumatic to say the least. Shot for nothing more than a pathetic beef it still hits me like a rock hard punch to the gut.

Heart broken at his best friends death, Tre must make a decision, to pick up a gun and try to avenge his friends death with Dough Boy and his gang, or walk away, pursue his attempts at college and escape this hell that seems determined to drag him down.......watching him make that final, life changing decision is raw and unflinching and it weighs heavily, a hell of a conundrum.

Boyz is a film with strong messages, whether its responsibility, the importance of education or the futility of a life of gangbanging, it never lets up. Whilst it may not seem as powerful today as the day it was released, having been copied and borrowed from, its still no less relevant and a movie everybody should see.

"Either they don't know, don't show, or don't care about what's going on in the hood." is the chilling last line of the movie, but after such a powerful ride, now everybody should.