Product Description

TEN YEARS AFTER THE RELEASE OF THE SEMINAL BOYZ N THE HOOD, ACCLAIMED DIRECTOR JOHN SINGLETON RETURNS TO THE SAME INNER-CITY LOS ANGELES NEIGHBORHOOD FOR THE STORY OF A MISGUIDED 20-YEAR-OLD AFRICAN AMERICAN MAN, A BABY BOY FACING THE COMMITMENTS OF REAL LIFE.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3387 in DVD
• Brand: SONY PICTURES HOME ENT
• Released on: 2001-11-06
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, French
• Dubbed in: French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.20 pounds
• Running time: 130 minutes

Amazon.com
A worthy companion piece to 1991's Boyz N the Hood, John Singleton's Baby Boy expresses compassionate but unforgiving criticism of young, African American black men who lead reckless, irresponsible lives while blithely blaming racism for their chronic disadvantage. That's already enough to make this a provocative and emotionally challenging film, but Singleton injects his drama with such passionate vitality that it never seems inflammatory; instead, in presenting this portrait of a confused and conflicted 20-year-old black man named Jody (Tyrese Gibson), Singleton is both affectionate and accusatory, lending Baby Boy an edgy, timeless wisdom that other, less courageous films could never hope to offer.

Unemployed and living with his 36-year-old mother (A.J. Johnson), Jody has fathered children from two young mothers and seems destined for an early grave. He never knew his father, but his mother's new boyfriend Melvin (played to perfection by Ving Rhames) is an ex-con with streetwise maturity that Jody, in time, will come to recognize and respect. This generational dynamic is the lifeblood of Singleton's central theme; Jody can follow Melvin's example or fall into the trap of lawlessness personified by Rodney (Snoop Dogg), a violent gangsta who arrives to threaten Jody's tenuous chance at a respectable adulthood. Through a wealth of fine performances and blistering dialogue, Baby Boy presents hard questions with no easy answers, and although Singleton is prone to polemical melodrama, his blunt approach serves a noble and ultimately hopeful purpose. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
A failed attempt at epic family-film-making by the writer-director John Singleton. The singer Tyrese Gibson stars as a whiny, going-nowhere man living in South Central L.A. with his mom and her boyfriend (A. J. Johnson and Ving Rhames, in strong performances). The drama is written in a style where every line is meant to convey something important, and the heavy-handed life lessons that Singleton doles out are unconvincing. He means to explore the directionless lives of young men who refuse to shoulder responsibility, but he's made a movie as meandering as one of his lost souls. -Bruce Diones
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Sad, But The Truth
This movie is truthful. As much as we would hate to believe it, but relationships with your parents and your significant other is just like that with most people. There's usually always drama With urban people. Not to say that it's not that way with suburban people, but for some reason we "urban folks" almost always make the news. Anyhow Tyrese did a good job as Jody and I was quite suprised. He potrayed a lazy son, a decietful baby's daddy and a young man who had somewhat of a desire to do better, just caught up in temptation. His mother Addrienne Joi Johnson did a fair job, she looked rather young to be his mom, but isn't that truly the way it is. She didn't seem very supportive as a mom, but her part was to give some advice and to stand her ground on having a man in her life played by Ving Rhames. Tyrese main girl Taraji P. Henson did an excellent job playing her part as his baby's mom and the girl he truly cared for. We as women feel just like she did when it comes to a man we love, we want them to do right by us and if they dont, we express ourselves. We want them to leave if they cant act right, but we give them numerous chances to straighten up. This movie has numerous sex scenes, violence and profanity, not for the little ones it's truly an adult film. This movies has a pleasant ending. Check it out!

guitly by association
There are soooo many people out there that are tired of seeing the typical "BLACK/Boyz N the Hood" type films. I admit I was a little sceptical when I decided to see Baby Boy because every one associated it with Boyz N the Hood. True there may be some similarities but Baby Boy isnt as negative and it sets a better mood. It was a great movie that everybody can relate to. There's no constant scenes were guys are just hanging on the front porch or street corners selling drugs, drinking, smoking, and getting high. To me this movie is saying to any male (young/old, black/white) to wake up, grow up and be responsible for yourself as well as your actions. Become a MAN! Baby Boy makes you laugh, makes you cry and leaves you with a good feeling. So dispite what people are saying, this is NOT another Boyz N the Hood.

Baby Boy
I saw this movie when it was released and not again till last night. I was a fan of John Singleton's work and understood from interviews that his movies up to this point were his own "triology" of Black male life experiences in South Central L.A. This movie touched on a lot of ills in the Black community but didn't offer solutions tied up in a bow at the movie's end so to me it is an episodic few weeks in the life of one character, Jody aka "Baby Boy".

After my second viewing this isn't a movie that I'd add to my favorite list or that I want to see in entirety again though I would probably watch my favorite scenes from time to time. The pacing of the movie seems uneven to me - it was moving along fine until the Snoop character "Rodney" bogarts his way into Yvette's apartment after his release from jail during the final third of the movie. Clearly the character was only introduced to add tension to the story but I wonder how it would've turned out if Singleton had just focused on the factors and/or experiences that Jody faces during the movie that might have caused him to grow up and be a man and real father to his children and left the gangster bs out.

Like another reviewer, I was a little dismayed that education is not stressed as an option for Jody and his cousin P but as in real life, people only promote what they know which is why Jody's mom (AJ Johnson) stressed that he work but never suggested that he go to college.

I gave the disc 3 stars because I really enjoyed the special feature which I guess aired on Cinemax prior to the movie's release. I enjoyed all of the actors' comments regarding their characters and was surprised to hear Singleton state that he'd written this script for Tupac Shakur. Once I heard that statement, I couldn't help but think about how different this movie would have been had he lived to portray this character...Tyrese was good in the role but Tupac would have been magnificent I believe.

One other positive factor for me is that there is excellent chemistry between the cast members so their performances are stronger & more believable - especially Tyrese/Ving Rhames and Tyrese/Taraji P. Henson.