Plot Summary
First-time director John Singleton garnered an Oscar nomination for this intensely dramatic story of life in a south central Los Angeles neighborhood. Following the attempts of Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) to build a better life for himself, Boyz 'N the Hood reveals a world in which a trip to the store can end in death.
Movie Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
TOMATOMETER
96%- Reviews Counted: 49
- Fresh: 47
- Rotten: 2
- Average Rating: 8.3/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: In this setting, the actors could easily disappear into speeches or stereotypes, but they don't; the film's strength is that it sustains an intimate and realistic tone.
Fresh: Even in its warmest moments, there is a fearful chill in this hood's air. And on the hearts of its boyz.
Fresh: An absorbing, smartly made dramatic encyclopedia of problems and ethics in the black community, 1991.
Fresh: A booming, heart slam of a film.
Customer Reviews
Incredible, passionate, deep, powerful film
This movie is brilliant. This story follows young black men growing up in south central LA in the 80s. Institutionalized racism and the threat of gang violence make survival hard, escape near impossible. This movie still makes me cry, outraged, even at 35 years old. There is so much I want to say about this movie, and I am having a hard time trying to sort it out. This story captures the struggle and tragedy of ghetto life, how hard it is to live right when life is hard and there are dangerous people around and both the system and the criminals want to take you down. It shows how hard it is to be proud and yet not get caught up in the drugs and gangs and vendettas. How to be a man without using a gun or taking the cowards way out and saying "i had no choice, life is hard, thug life." Lawrence Fishburn in this movie is so deep and strong, a father trying to raise his son to be a good man, string but not violent, unashamed, and to not let the pressure of having the system and society of one's homeland set up to keep you down and in a specific social class and physical area. (the police had color barriers between neighborhoods) This movie brings you to Compton and makes you love it and hate it. I think when you see the way the police act, it is hard to believe it was like that. But the facts are in, thats how it was, or worse- it was a war. I just watched it again after a few years and I just have such a strong reaction to this movie. Incredible performances. The director acknowledges how cool gangsters can look, be, and act while letting you see the tragic side of the life and the futile path that it is. He makes you feel the chain reactions intrinsic to gang war, he makes you feel the toll. There is a good chance that you will think, say or yell NO!!! at some point in this movie. I highly recommend this film.
Never Fails to Amaze and Inspire
Why Ice Cube was never even nominated for an Oscar I'll never know (his final scene alone should go down in history). I teach this film as part of both my Contemporary American Literature and Media Literacy classrooms. Its relevance goes far beyond South Central, and in fact can be used as a template to understand the true, hideous nature of the American global empire. A truly brilliant and timeless work of film as literature.
Thriller
Average life of a brotha in Compton
- $9.99
- Genre: Urban
- Released: 1991
- © 1991, 1992 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
