Stars: Taraji P. Henson, Tyrese Gibson, Omar Gooding, A.J. Johnson, Snoop Dogg, Ving Rhames, Tamara LaSeon Bass

Director: John Singleton

Summary: The story of a twenty year old African American man struggling to face up to his commitments.

Director John Singleton (BOYZ IN THE HOOD, SHAFT) revisits to South Central L.A. with BABY BOY. Former Calvin Klein model Tyrese Gibson stars as Jody, a smooth-talking but immature black male who has children from two different women. One of them, Yvette (Taraji P. Henson), wants him to be faithful and move in with her, but Jody prefers his room at Mom's (A.J. Johnson) house, and his life of aimless womanizing and hanging out with neighborhood pal Sweet Pea (Omar Gooding). However, this childhood paradise seems about to destruct with the arrival of Mom's new ex-con boyfriend, Melvin (Ving Rhames). And when a dangerous former lover of Yvette's (Snoop Doggy Dogg in a nicely unsympathetic performance) gets out of jail and moves back in, the stage is set for Jody to either stand up like a man, or die in the attempt.
Singleton tells the story in a series of vibrant vignettes, and though he supplies plenty of crowd-pleasing sex and violence, the focus remains on his characters. A rich score of old and new rap and R&B gives the film a nice boost, and Rhames is superb as the aging former thug trying to find happiness with Jody's mom.

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In Baby Boy, made a decade after his Boyz N the Hooddirector 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 Boyis 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 Boyon 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. --Paul Tonks

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen, 16:9 Anamorphic Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Commentary By John Singleton, Deleted And Alternate Scenes, Outtakes And Bloopers, The Making Of Featurette, Featurette The Kiki And Boo Show, Music Videos, Filmographies, Theatrical Trailer
Subtitles:	Arabic, Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Swedish, Turkish
Year:	2001
Release Date:	June 6, 2005
Runtime:	124 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C 823 500 2
Keywords:	Baby, Boy, General, Wide, Screen, Drama
Genre:	Drama