Details
Movie Description
Director John Singleton (BOYZ IN THE HOOD, SHAFT) revisits to South Central L.A. with BABY BOY. Former Calvin Klein model Tyrese Gibson stars as Jody, a smooth-talking but immature black male who has children from two different women. One of them, Yvette (Taraji P. Henson), wants him to be faithful and move in with her, but Jody prefers his room at Mom's (A.J. Johnson) house, and his life of aimless womanizing and hanging out with neighborhood pal Sweet Pea (Omar Gooding). However, this childhood paradise seems about to destruct with the arrival of Mom's new ex-con boyfriend, Melvin (Ving Rhames). And when a dangerous former lover of Yvette's (Snoop Doggy Dogg in a nicely unsympathetic performance) gets out of jail and moves back in, the stage is set for Jody to either stand up like a man, or die in the attempt.
Singleton tells the story in a series of vibrant vignettes, and though he supplies plenty of crowd-pleasing sex and violence, the focus remains on his characters. A rich score of old and new rap and R&B gives the film a nice boost, and Rhames is superb as the aging former thug trying to find happiness with Jody's mom.
Film Notes
Theatrical Release: June 29, 2001
Industry Reviews
"...BABY BOY leaves you shaken....[Gibson and Snoop Dogg] give the film the power and potency of rap..."
Rolling Stone - p.55 - Peter Travers (07/19/2001)
"...It lives, breathes and switches moods from humor to despair better than any American release this year..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars
USA Today - p.5D - Mike Clark (06/27/2001)
"...BABY BOY earns credibility for its insights by moving beyond image and rhetoric....[Snoop Dogg's] performance is sly, menacing and disarmingly funny..."
New York Times - p.E3 - A. O. Scott (06/27/2001)
"...Singleton's achievement is that he stages each moment with such an intricate and painful sense of what's going on inside Jody..."
Entertainment Weekly - p.56 - Owen Gleiberman (07/13/2001)
"...The characters are vibrant....Singleton's writing is skillful enough to make them come engagingly to life..."
Variety - p.22 - Todd McCarthy (07/09/2001)
"...Compelling....BABY BOY is heartfelt and personal..."
Los Angeles Times - p.1 - Kenneth Turan (06/27/2001)
"...There are good performances throughout the cast..."
Total Film - p.91 - Nev Pierce (12/01/2001)
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