coming-of-age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...
hood
Hood may refer to:
Covering
Apparel
* Hood (headgear), type of head covering
** Article of academic dress
** Bondage hood, sex toy
* Hoodie, hooded sweatshirt
Anatomy
* Clitoral hood, a hood of skin surrounding the clitoris
* Hood, a flap of ...
comedy-drama film
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
directed, written, and produced by
John Singleton
John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for ...
and starring
Tyrese Gibson
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
,
Omar Gooding
Omar Miles Gooding Sr., also known by his stage name, Big OA.J. Johnson and Taraji P. Henson. The film follows Joseph "Jody" Summers (Gibson), a 20-year-old bike mechanic who still lives with his own mother (Johnson), as he lives and learns in his everyday life in the
hood
Hood may refer to:
Covering
Apparel
* Hood (headgear), type of head covering
** Article of academic dress
** Bondage hood, sex toy
* Hoodie, hooded sweatshirt
Anatomy
* Clitoral hood, a hood of skin surrounding the clitoris
* Hood, a flap of ...
of
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
.
The film was originally written with rapper-actor
Tupac Shakur
Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...
in mind to play Jody; Shakur had previously worked with Singleton on ''
Poetic Justice
Poetic justice, also called poetic irony, is a literary device with which ultimately virtue is rewarded and misdeeds are punished. In modern literature, it is often accompanied by an ironic twist of fate related to the character's own action, henc ...
''. However, following Shakur's murder in 1996, Singleton decided to replace Shakur with R&B artist
Tyrese Gibson
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
. Additionally, the role of Rodney was originally written for Ice Cube, who had worked with Singleton on '' Boyz n the Hood'' and ''
Higher Learning
''Higher Learning'' is a 1995 American drama film written and directed by John Singleton and starring an ensemble cast. The film follows the changing lives of three incoming freshmen at the fictional Columbus University: Malik Williams ( Omar Epp ...
''. The film marked the feature acting debut of Gibson and provided Henson with her first prominent role.
Released in the United States on June 27, 2001, the film received predominantly positive reviews from critics and audiences, with many deeming it as Singleton's best film since ''Boyz n the Hood'', but underperformed commercially, grossing $29 million against a $16 million budget. The film is also the final feature film written by Singleton as he did not write any of his later feature-length directorial projects before his death in April 2019.
Plot
Joseph "Jody" Summers waits for his girlfriend Yvette at an
abortion clinic
Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregnan ...
after compelling her to go. They then have a heated argument about his lack of commitment and selfishness; she asks him if he will ever come live with her and their son JoJo, but he deliberately avoids the subject and comes and goes as he pleases.
Meanwhile, Jody also continues having affairs with other women, including a young girl named Peanut, with whom he also has a daughter, Lil' Nut. Jody also nearly has sex with Pandora, Yvette's colleague and co-worker, but manages to rebuff her advances. When Yvette discovers his cheating, their ensuing argument eventually turns physical, culminating in her kicking him out of her home.
Yvette's gangster ex-boyfriend Rodney is released from San Quentin State Prison and returns to the neighborhood to move in with Yvette. However, Rodney does not care for JoJo and wants to impregnate Yvette himself, but when Rodney attempts to rape Yvette in front of her son, he stops himself out of guilt. Despite their previous issues, Yvette begins to realize she still loves Jody.
Jody’s mother Juanita finds marijuana in her garden and blames him, who then angrily blames her new boyfriend Melvin, an ex-convict. Melvin comes home, admits to Juanita that he planted it and apologizes. An upset Jody argues with his mother before getting into an argument with Melvin, which ends with Melvin punching him and breaking a table.
Frustrated, Jody leaves the house to see his friend Sweetpea. Soon after, Yvette kicks Rodney and his friends out of her apartment. Eventually, Yvette and Jody reconcile at Sweetpea's house, and Yvette tells Jody about how Rodney tried to rape her in front of JoJo. Rodney then steals Yvette’s money and keys from her wallet and drives off in her car to go and find Jody, whom he unsuccessfully tries to kill in a drive-by shooting.
Later that night, Jody and Sweetpea confront Rodney, and as he attempts to escape, Jody shoots him in the legs. Sweetpea urges Jody to kill Rodney, but he refuses, and so Sweetpea shoots and kills Rodney himself. Horrified by Rodney's death, Jody prepares to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head, but Melvin stops him before taking the gun. After reflecting on Rodney's death and how his absence endangered her and JoJo, Jody finally decides to move in with Yvette.
Jody then accepts that Juanita's relationship with Melvin is stable, and that he needs to protect and care for his own family. Afterward, Jody and Yvette get married and look forward to the birth of their unborn child. Meanwhile, Sweetpea decides to get baptized and abandon his old life as a criminal.
Cast
*
Tyrese Gibson
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
as Joseph "Jody" Summers
*
Omar Gooding
Omar Miles Gooding Sr., also known by his stage name, Big OTaraji P. Henson as Yvette, Jody's girlfriend
* Snoop Dogg as Rodney, Yvette's ex-boyfriend
*
Adrienne-Joi Johnson
Adrienne-Joi Johnson (born January 2, 1963) is an American actress, choreographer, fitness trainer, and life coach. Acting since 1987, Johnson has made many guest appearances on sitcoms, television dramas and music videos; she also has numerous ...
as Juanita, Jody's mother
*
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
as Melvin, Juanita's ex-con boyfriend
*
Mo'Nique
Monique Angela Hicks (née Imes; born December 11, 1967), known professionally as Mo'Nique, is an American stand-up comedian and actress. She has received an Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award.
She ...
as Patrice, Juanita's best friend
*
Angell Conwell
Angell Conwell (born August 2, 1983) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Leslie Michaelson in the CBS daytime soap opera, ''The Young and the Restless'' and Lisa Stallworth in the Bounce TV sitcom '' Family Time''. In film, she ...
as Kim, Sweetpea's girlfriend
* Tamara LaSeon Bass as Peanut, the mother of Jody's daughter Lil' Nut
* Candy Ann Brown as Ms. Herron, Peanut's mother
* Tawny Dahl as Pandora, Yvette‘s scandalous co-worker
*
Big Tray Deee
Tracy Lamar Davis (born April 27, 1966), better known by his stage name Big Tray Deee (formerly Tray Deee and Tracy Deee), is an American rapper signed with Snoop Dogg's label Dogghouse Records.
Career
Before becoming a rapper, Davis was an a ...
as Knucklehead #1
*
Goldie Loc
Tha Eastsidaz is a hip hop trio consisting of Snoop Dogg, Tray Deee and Goldie Loc. Their first appearance was on Tommy Boy Records' ''The Ride: Music from Dimension'' with Crooked Eye Q on a Battlecat-produced song called "Feels So Good" in 19 ...
as Knucklehead #2
Singleton makes an uncredited cameo as a bootlegger who attempts to sell pirated DVDs to Jody and Sweetpea, while his mother Sheila Ward plays a mourner in the dream sequence where Jody sees himself at his funeral. Additionally, his daughter Cleopatra appears in the beginning of the film as Lil' Nut, Jody's daughter with Peanut.
Reception
Box office
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $8,606,403 in 1,533 theaters in the United States, averaging $5,614 per theater, and ranking #5 at the box office. It grossed a total of $28,734,552 domestically and $647,097 elsewhere for a total of $29,381,649, above its $16 million production budget.
Critical response
''Baby Boy'' received positive reviews from critics and has a rating of 71% on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 92 reviews with an average score of 6.2 out of 10. The consensus states "Preachy and repetitive in parts, ''Baby Boy'' still manages to exude authenticity, thanks to its competent cast." The film also has a score of 55 out of 100 on
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
based on 26 critics indicating 'Mixed or average reviews'.
Roger Ebert gave the film 3½ stars out of 4 and stated in his review: "''Baby Boy'' is a bold criticism of young black men who carelessly father babies, live off their mothers and don't even think of looking for work. It is also a criticism of the society that pushes them into that niche. There has never been a movie with this angle on the African-American experience" and " tdoesn't fall back on easy liberal finger-pointing. There are no white people in this movie, no simplistic blaming of others; the adults in Jody's life blame him for his own troubles, and they should."
Kenneth Turan
Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...
, film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'', praised the film for being "...Compelling.... heartfelt and personal..." Jonathan Rosenbaum of ''Chicago Reader'' also liked the film, stating "Like John Singleton's other features, this is far from flawless.... But the characters are so full-bodied and the feelings so raw and complex that I'd call this the best thing he's done to date..."
The film ultimately received 10 nominations at the Black Reel Awards of 2002, including Outstanding Film, and 3 nominations at 2002
NAACP Image Awards
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
Locarno International Film Festival
The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, ...
in competition for the
Golden Leopard
The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to be ...
and would receive a 'Special Mention' from the jury for "For its innovative concept and ensemble acting."
Director John Singleton was very proud of the movie: "It was just soulful, I made a movie that I wanted to be as soulful as a Marvin Gaye record. That was my goal for better or worse. Not necessarily a perfect film, but just something that you watch, it’s memorable. That’s what I love about that movie."
Soundtrack
A soundtrack containing hip-hop and R&B music was released by
Universal Records
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
on June 19, 2001. It peaked at #41 on the ''Billboard'' 200, #12 on the
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated ...
and #5 on the
Top Soundtracks
The ''Billboard'' charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs and albums in the United States and elsewhere. The results are published in ''Billboard'' magazine. ''Billboard'' biz, the online extension of the ''Billboard'' charts, pr ...
Tyrese
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
. The soundtrack contains interludes which are sound clips from the film. An album of the film's score, by British composer
David Arnold
David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), '' Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series ''Little Britain'' ...
, was released by
Varese Sarabande
Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label=Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559.
It is the ca ...
.
#"The Womb (Intro)"- 1:14 (
Tyrese
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq (; born Charles Ray Wiggins; May 14, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He rose to fame as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! In addition to his solo and group ...
featuring
Devin the Dude
Devin Copeland (born June 4, 1970), better known by his stage name Devin the Dude, is an American rapper from Houston, Texas. He is known for his unique rapping style and his 2002 songs "Lacville '79" and "Doobie Ashtray".
Early life
Devin Copel ...
Three 6 Mafia
Three 6 Mafia is an American hip hop group from Memphis, Tennessee, formed in 1991. Emerging as a horror-themed underground hip hop group, they would eventually go on to enjoy mainstream success. The group's 1995 debut album ''Mystic Stylez'' ...
featuring La Chat)
#"Talk Shit 2 Ya"- 4:35 ( D'Angelo featuring Marlon C)
#"I'd Rather Be With You"- 4:55 ( Bootsy Collins)
#"You"- 4:45 (Felicia Adams)
#"Jody Meets Rodney (Interlude)"- :30 (Tyrese & Snoop Dogg)
#"Crip Hop"- 5:03 (
Tha Eastsidaz
Tha Eastsidaz is a hip hop trio consisting of Snoop Dogg, Tray Deee and Goldie Loc. Their first appearance was on Tommy Boy Records' ''The Ride: Music from Dimension'' with Crooked Eye Q on a Battlecat-produced song called "Feels So Good" in 19 ...
Baby
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
& Lac)
#"Guns and Butter (Interlude)"- :30 (
Ving Rhames
Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...
)
#"We Keep It G"- 4:44 (Lost Angels)
#"Eat Sleep Think"- 3:36 (Connie McKendrick)
#" Just to Keep You Satisfied"- 4:24 ( Marvin Gaye)
#"I Hate You (Interlude)"- :41 (Tyrese & Taraji P. Henson)
#"Love & War"- 5:21 ( Anthony Hamilton featuring
Macy Gray
Natalie Renée McIntyre (born September 6, 1967), known by her stage name Macy Gray, is an American R&B and soul singer and actress. She is known for her distinctive raspy voice and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday.
Gray ha ...
List of hood films
This is a list of hood films – films focusing on the culture and life of African-Americans, Hispanic Americans, and/or in some cases, Asian Americans living in segregated, low-income urban communities, as well as comparably deprived and crime-ri ...