Wolff rating: EXCELLENT
Plot summary: Young man grows up surrounded by L.A. ghetto poverty and gangbangers.
Biased, pithy comments: A coming of age movie full of pride, anger, and smouldering characters. Singleton's first movie, it contains all of the features of his subsequent movies (iconic characters, preachy writing, and a formal look at the black experience) except that in this case, it's done right. The movie has such wonderful harmony among its cadre of actors, including a young Cuba Gooding Jr. and Laurence Fishburne. Definitely worth seeing and pondering.
Other Notes: Singleton cameos as the mailman.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Laurence Fishburne, Ice Cube, Na'Blonka Durden, Angela Bassett, Redge Green.
Directed by: John Singleton