Boyz n the Hood is a 1991 American coming-of-age hood drama film written and directed by John Singleton in his feature directorial debut.[2] It stars Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, Laurence Fishburne, Nia Long, Regina King, and Angela Bassett. Boyz n the Hood follows Tre Styles (Gooding Jr.), who is sent to live with his father Furious Styles (Fishburne) in South Central Los Angeles, surrounded by the neighborhood's booming gang culture. The film's title is a double entendre; a play on the term boyhood and a reference to the 1987 Eazy-E rap song of the same name, written by Ice Cube.

Singleton initially developed the film as a requirement for application to film school in 1986 and sold the script to Columbia Pictures upon graduation in 1990. During writing, he drew inspiration from his own life and from the lives of people he knew and insisted he direct the project. Principal photography began in September 1990 and was filmed on location from October to November 1990. The film is notable for featuring breakout roles for Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding Jr., Morris Chestnut, and Nia Long.

The film was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival. In 2002, the United States Library of Congress deemed it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

DETAILED PLOT

1984

Ten-year-old Tre Styles lives with his mother Reva, in Inglewood, near Los Angeles International Airport. After Tre gets into an altercation at school, his teacher informs Reva that he has a volatile temper and lacks respect for authority, despite his high intelligence. Concerned about Tre's future and wanting him to mature, Reva sends him to live in Crenshaw with his father, Jason "Furious" Styles, from whom she hopes Tre will learn valuable life lessons. She assures Tre he will be permitted to return to her one day.

Tre soon reunites with his friends, Darrin "Doughboy" Baker, Doughboy's maternal half-brother Ricky, and Chris, their mutual friend. Furious immediately has Tre rake the leaves off the front lawn, emphasizing the benefits of hard work and responsibility. Chris sneers at Furious's offer to pay them for raking the leaves, implying he makes more participating in criminal activity. That night, a burglar enters the house and Tre hears his father shooting as he flees. They wait for the police, and two officers arrive an hour later; the white officer is civil and professional, while the black officer is hostile and displays a contempt of other Black men.

The next day, Tre, Ricky, Doughboy and Chris venture to a nearby neighborhood where Chris knows the location of a dead human body. While the quartet is there, a group of adolescents confront them about the discovery of the body. One of the adolescents tricks Ricky into throwing him his football. Doughboy tries to retrieve it but is beaten and kicked by the ball thief. While the older boys walk away, one of them gives Ricky his ball back. Later in the day, Furious goes fishing with Tre, telling him of his military experience in the Vietnam War. He advises Tre never to join the Army, arguing that a black man has no place in it. As Tre and Furious return home, they see Doughboy and Chris being arrested for shoplifting as Brenda, Ricky and Doughboy's mother look on from her front porch.

1991

Seven years later at a BBQ party, Doughboy, now a Crips gang member, is celebrating his recent release from jail with his friends, including Chris, who is now paralyzed and uses a wheelchair as a result of a gunshot wound, and new friends and fellow Crip members Dooky and Monster. Ricky, now a star running back for Crenshaw High School, lives with Brenda, his girlfriend Shanice, and their infant son. Tre has grown into a mature and responsible teenager and aspires to attend college with his girlfriend, Brandi. Their relationship is strained over Tre's desire to have sex, while Brandi, a devout Catholic, wishes to wait until after marriage.

Ricky hopes to win a scholarship from the University of Southern California. During a visit from a recruiter, Ricky learns that he must score at least a 700 on the SATs in order to qualify. Tre and Ricky take the test together, and they visit Furious at work. Furious takes them to Compton to talk about the dangers of decreasing property values in the black community.

That night, during a local street racing gathering, Ricky has a confrontation with Ferris, a high-ranking Crenshaw Mafia Bloods member. This soon escalates into an argument which causes Doughboy to brandish his gun, warding off the Bloods. Moments later, Ferris fires his own gun into the air, causing everyone to panic and flee. Tre leaves with Ricky and states his desire to leave Los Angeles, but they are soon pulled over by the police. The officer turns out to be the same one who responded to the burglary call made by Furious seven years back, and he intimidates and threatens Tre. Tre visits Brandi's house and breaks down; after she consoles him, they have sex for the first time.

The next day, after getting into argument about Brenda, Doughboy and Ricky get into a fight. While Tre and Ricky walk to a nearby store, they see Ferris and the Crenshaw Mafia Bloods driving around the neighborhood, and in an attempt to avoid them, the two cut through the back alleys and split up while at the same time Doughboy went to grab his gun, sensing them in trouble. As Tre turns his back to Ricky, Ferris's car cuts off Ricky's path, and one of Ferris's men shoots Ricky in the leg and back with a shotgun, killing him instantly.

Doughboy, Dooky, Monster and Chris all rush over to the scene but catch up with Tre too late, who is mourning his friend's brutal demise. The five boys carry Ricky's dead body back home. When Brenda and Shanice see Ricky's corpse, they tearfully break down and, thinking that he killed Ricky, blame Doughboy, who unsuccessfully tries to comfort them and explain himself. Later that night, a distraught Brenda reads Ricky's SAT results, discovering he scored a 710, more than enough to qualify for the scholarship.

The remaining boys vow vengeance on Ricky's assailants; Furious finds Tre preparing to take his gun, but convinces him to abandon his plans for revenge. Shortly after, Tre sneaks out to join Doughboy, Dooky and Monster, to Brandi and Furious's dismay. That night, as the four search for Ricky's killers, Tre, realizing Furious is right, asks to be let out of Doughboy's car and returns home. When Tre arrives at home, Furious confronts him, and the two depart to their bedrooms silently.

Meanwhile, Doughboy, Dooky and Monster continue to search for the three assailants and eventually find them eating at a fast food restaurant and prepare a drive-by shooting. The Crenshaw Mafia Bloods spot the car and attempt to flee, but Monster manages to shoot all three of them, killing one, and wounding Ricky's killer and Ferris. The vengeful Doughboy exits the car, shoots and killing Ricky's killer, and confronts Ferris. Ferris denies "pulling the trigger" and insults Doughboy, who promptly executes him in response, avenging his late brother.

The next morning, Doughboy visits Tre and understands his reasons for exiting the car. Doughboy knows that he will eventually face retaliation for the murder he committed the previous evening and accepts the consequences of his crime-ridden lifestyle. He plaintively questions why America does not care about the plight of those in the ghetto, and sorrowfully notes he has no family left after Ricky's death and Brenda's disowning of him. Tre embraces him and tells Doughboy he still has one brother left.

The epilogue reveals that Ricky was buried the next day, and that Doughboy was murdered two weeks later. Tre and Brandi later go on to attend Morehouse and Spelman colleges respectively.