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Review by Dustin Putman
2½ stars out of 4
In a film that is far closer to his roots in filmmaking than 2000's
big-budget remake of "Shaft," John Singleton's "Baby Boy" is a low-key, often
astute, drama. Described as a companion piece to his masterful debut film,
1991's "Boyz N the Hood," the picture is considerably less violent and bleak,
but is still set in a world (to be exact, a troubled, crime-ridden Southern
California neighborhood) in which its residents can never be too sure if
their lives are going to work out as planned, or even if they're going to
survive to see tomorrow.
A film about growing up and taking responsibility for your actions and
relationships, R&B singer Tyrese Gibson stars as Jody, a 20-year-old "boy"
who has fathered two children from two separate women (one of which he is in
love with), but remains at home living with his lonely 36-year-old mother,
Juanita (A.J. Johnson). Juanita loves Jody, but feels that he should "leave
the nest" and accept becoming an independent man, just as she wants to move
on with her own life. Meanwhile, Jody's long-time, long-suffering girlfriend,
Yvette (Taraji P. Henson), is beginning to feel like she isn't being
appreciated in the relationship as she should be, and suspects that he has
been sleeping around. Sure, they love one another, but is love really enough
when your significant other almost outwardly cheats behind your back?
John Singleton, whose career has been quite varied ("Boyz N the Hood" and
1995's "Higher Learning" were powerful statements on society, while 1993's
"Poetic Justice" and 1997's "Rosewood" were ambitious blunders), has made a
serious-minded, ardent motion picture with "Baby Boy," although it fails to
succeed in quite the same way that his greatest achievements have. For one,
Singleton, who also penned the screenplay, too often goes for
over-exaggeration when dealing with his characters' mannerisms, and the path
that the movie follows is an admittedly cliched one. While it may be truthful
up to a point, the actors are instructed to yell their lines in certain
scenes, rather than just speak them in a normal tone, as if to be black you
have to have a nasty temper and be sassy. While this aspect of the
characters' interaction is unnecessary, it thankfully does not takes up the
majority of the running time.
For much of the 128-minute running time, "Baby Boy" is an involving romantic
drama that treats its participants with respect and understanding, never
fully condemning them for their mistakes. Jody, played maturely by Tyrese
Gibson in his first film role, is a likable, sympathetic young man, even when
he makes mistakes and isn't always faithful to Yvette. In one of the movie's
most powerful moments, following Yvette's discovery that he has been with
many different women, Jody earnestly explains that he hasn't been honest with
her because he actually does love her and didn't want to hurt her feelings.
The same goes for Jody's mother, Juanita, who begins to see, and subsequently
falls in love with, a man named Melvin (Ving Rhames), who is a reformed
gangster. Juanita's last twenty years have all been dedicated to Jody, and
now that he is an adult, she simply wants to move on and enjoy her own life,
for once. A.J. Johnson (1994's "The Inkwell") gives a powerful performance as
a woman who loves her son unconditionally, but wants, and needs, to let him
go. As for Ving Rhames (2000's "Mission: Impossible 2"), his
sure-to-be-remembered frog-hopping sex scene has got to be seen to be
believed.
Newcomer Taraji P. Henson has the most interesting and finely-tuned role, as
Yvette, and runs away with the entire film. Henson is a lovely fresh face
whose performance is both perceptive and touching, and Yvette is written with
an intelligent delicacy that makes you instantly care about what happens to
her. It's the trickiest role, too, as a young mother who is trying to make a
good life for her and her son, and would love to include Jody in it if only
he could show her some commitment.
The plot takes a wrong turn with the appearance of Yvette's criminal
ex-boyfriend, Rodney (Snoop Dogg), who is released from jail and promptly
takes over Yvette's apartment. Not sure how to get him out, and scared of his
dangerous streak, the film culminates in a false-alarm drive-by shooting that
later turns to real violence. While what takes place is captivating, and even
effective in the issues it raises, the appearance of guns in the final act of
an otherwise non-violent motion picture was a bit of a letdown. Snoop Dogg,
who is fine with what he has been given, is equipped with a character who is
portrayed as less of a person, and more of an obnoxious story device.
Luckily, once he is out of the picture, the film concludes with several
extremely well-written passages that wrap up the film in a hopeful,
satisfying manner.
"Baby Boy" is not a great movie, and lacks the overall realism and intensity
of "Boyz N the Hood," but it is a good one. The engaging performances, mixed
with its keen observations on love and maturation, are worth seeing, even if,
in order to get to them, you must walk down a road that has been covered many
times before. It is clear that when he set out to make "Baby Boy," John
Singleton's heart was in the right place.
Copyright © 2001 Dustin Putman
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out of 4
