Sitting down to watch Boyz 'N the Hood right now feels fitting. I appreciate what it has to say about the struggles of the black community and gentrification. In fact, I'd be lying if I didn't say that I was a bit choked up when Laurence Fishburne goes on his rant. I wish there was more of that in the film. Sadly, it felt like the rest of the movie was a fairly by-the-numbers story about young people growing up in a dangerous community with a lot of bad influences. Coming-of-age is already a genre that I don't typically enjoy, and adding in the depressing nature of this particular film, I had a tough time with it. Admittedly, I was emotionally invested in the journey of the characters, and I shed a few tears at one point when tragedy struck. Yet I saw it coming. Every beat of this movie felt like something I've seen before in other films, so it was extremely predictable. Many of those movies might have been drawing inspiration from this one, but I just happen to be in a place now where this all seemed rote. I guess at this point I'm looking for a more unique or nuanced approach to these topics, or even films that shine a light on how we can move forward rather than the pessimistic note we are left with here. I can't deny that Boyz 'N the Hood is a well-made movie, and I imagine if I saw it back in the early 90s when I was a teen it would have struck a chord with me and shifted my worldview in some way. Seeing it now, I'm simply left wanting something more, and that may be a problem with me and not the movie itself.
Review of Boyz n the Hood
