Baby Boy on DVD

Description

 In Baby Boy, made a decade after his Boyz N the Hood director John Singleton presents a contrasting yet contained statement on the young African-American man of today. The story is a powerful construct of inevitabilities. Jody (Tyrese Gibson), an unemployed 20-year-old wants to avoid the do-or-die ethic that's lost him a brother and any perspective on real responsibilities. With children by different girlfriends, and an unhealthy disrespect for his 36-year-old mother (AJ Johnson) it seems like only a matter of time before tragedy strikes. But there are surprises here. Framed in a small-dream fantasy, the story occasionally slips into interpretative metaphor. Baby Boy is about choices. Characters from the past, including the electric turns by Ving Rhames and Snoop Dogg, are choices catching up with Jody. The equally stellar performances from Taraji Henson as girlfriend Yvette and the scowling Omar Gooding as vague best friend Sweetpea are choices yet to be faced. This is undoubtedly a message movie about the supposed ramifications of racism, but ultimately it's a compassionate advocation of individuality. On the DVD: Baby Boy on disc has an outstanding extras package. An energetic commentary from Singleton makes the movie viewing experience very personal. There are featurettes, music videos, deleted and alternate scenes, bloopers, filmographies, trailers and even storyboard comparisons (which usually only accompany FX-heavy movies). Dolby 5.1 sound and a crisp 1.85:1 print present the movie in the best possible way. BABY BOY is the powerful urban drama directed by John Singleton (Shaft and Boyz N the Hood) starring rap music superstars TYRESE GIBSON and SNOOP DOGG (Half Baked, I Got the Hook Up). With knockout performances from VING RHAMES (Mission: Impossible II, Pulp Fiction, Con Air) and A.J. Johnson (Friday House Party, The Players Club), BABY BOY is a tough, honest and unflinching look at modern urban life. Jody (Gibson) is a 20-year-old African American in South Central L.A. who is trying to live large but doesn't have a job. He's got two babies by two different women and still lives at home with his mother (Johnson). Growing up is tough on Jody, but a series of events involving his mother's new boyfriend Melvin (Rhames), his girfriend Yvette (Taraji P. Henson) and her ex-con ex-boyfriend Rodney (Snoop Dogg), force him to learn lessons about living, loving and surviving as a man in the hood.