Baby Boy (Tyrese Gibson, Snoop Doog) (DVD)

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.