John Singleton concludes what he calls his "Hood trilogy" with his 2001 installment Baby Boy. It centers around an immature, twenty year old black man nicknamed Jody (Gibson) who lives with his mom and his fathering two young kids from separate women. His mom gets a new boyfriend named Melvin (Rhames) who is what Jody calls "a thug," much to his dismay. More things in Jody's life including friendships, relationships, and family begin to crumble throughout the film when Jody realizes he must grow up.

Singleton has successfully made a brutally honest, cut throat, and raw look at the real hood. Not the glorified, Imma-shoot-me-a-thug-and-get-me-a-bitch-cause-this-the-good-life hood. It's almost a documentary style look at what a black area looks like. It goes beyond the stereotypes, and treats these people like real human beings, what they are, not what they are assumed to be.

Some blacks do bad, but some try to do right is why I picked up from Baby Boy. Here we have a mama's boy who needs to let his mom live her own life and let himself live his own. It sounds a lot easier than it is. His mom has been in an abusive relationship before, and now Jody does what anyone in his position would, be worried and overprotective.

The trailer for Baby Boy suggests that it has a strong comedic side. That it doesn't. It has some brave wit in a few scenes with mild humor popping up, other than that, it's a strange forward piece of drama. There is nothing funny about that plot and it shouldn't have been marketed like "a lot of fun." The casting, like in Singleton's previous works, is spot on and worthwhile. We get Tyrese Gibson giving his macho, but softie image. Snoop Dogg, who on the cover appears as Gibson's friend in the film, is far from it probably sporting the toughest and strongest image of mean he's most likely ever done. Rhames' role as the out-of-prison thug is very well captured and powerful just like anticipated. And the rest of the cast supports the leads well and efficient.

Baby Boy manages to mix itself in with other hood comedies and concert documentaries on the Black Entertainment Network (BET) most likely to show that there is a reality to everyone's dreams. BET most likely shows the film not only because it is urban inspired, but because it is real. It shouldn't be only aired on the black network, but regular movie networks regularly. Blacks aren't the only people who father babies and live at home in an uninspired way feeding off of their moms. People of all races most likely do it too. The film just focuses around a black family.

Ten years old, but still recognized as an effective drama, Baby Boy is a wakeup call to anyone practicing similar behavior. It's time to step up, be a man, and grow up. Life isn't a free ride. Working is hard, but gang life is no way to patch it. It sounds cliché, but like everything shown in Baby Boy, it's the harsh truth.

Starring: Tyrese Gibson, Omar Gooding, Ving Rhames, Taraji P. Henson, A.J. Johnson, and Snoop Dogg. Directed by: John Singleton.

Director John Singleton hits the black manhood where it hurts. His theme for the movie from the start is that black men in America are little more than babies. He rails against the culture that infantilize them and the men who live that way.

Joseph Summers (Tyrese Gibson) is a young black man struggling to get by. He lives with his mama (Candy Ann Brown). His baby mama Yvette (Taraji P. Henson) is frustrated with him. She starts going with gangster Rodney (Snoop Dogg). His mother has a new boyfriend Mel (Ving Rhames) who's done time.

It's very tough. Joseph makes mistakes. He's an idiot at times, but he isn't a bad guy. Tyrese Gibson doesn't allow him to play the fool in this. He instills the character with humanity even when things are at the lowest. If there is one message, I think Singleton is trying to tell young black men to get their sh14 together.

Jody (Tyrese Gibson) is an immature unemployed Afro-American, living with his mother in a ghetto and having a son with his girl-friend Yvette (Taraji P. Henson),but not assuming a family of his own and not being faithful to Ivette. Jody has a serious Oedipus complex problem and Sweetpea (Omar Gooding) is his best-friend. When his mother gets a new boy-friend, the dangerous Melvin (Ving Rhames),and the former boy-friend of Yvette, Rodney (Snoop Dogg),leaves the prison on probation, Jody has to find a destination to his life.

"Baby Boy" is not the best work of John Singleton. Although having a great performance of the Afro-American cast, the story about reaching the maturity in a dangerous ghetto is too long and all the characters are non-charismatic. It takes too much time for the twist point and I really did not like this movie. Maybe American viewers, who live closer to this reality, may appreciate "Baby Boy". My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Baby Boy – O Rei da Rua" ("Baby Boy – The King of the Street")