Boyz N the Hood, 8/10
This is one of the most quintessential movies about life in impoverished black communities in America. In that sense I was expecting this to be like the Godfather: good, but full of things thatd've become trite or cliché since. Turns out very much not so, and to its benefit. This is more of a slice of life movie than any kind of real narrative. There's no real story here, it's just spending time with these few characters and what's going on in their lives. Almost all tropes you'd expect to see in a movie about the subject matter are absent: there are no shootouts, gang fights, drug deals, graffiti-riddled dilapidated buildings or police violence. Instead it's about very mundane things: relationship troubles, going to college, coming of age and the sort. That, and how this movie keeps its location kind of vague, makes this film feel very universally relatable despite its very specific cultural context.
What makes it special is its worldbuilding and how it immerses you in its environment. Despite these people living in a perfectly average looking neighborhood, the threat of violence is ever-present, and could you hit you any time out of nowhere. Characters struggle with wanting more out of life, but are trapped by the run-down state of their environment. There's no moustache twirling white guy in a suit ruining things in the background, it's more of a convergence of factors, and there's no one person to blame. Characters can and do make wise life decisions, but there's only so much one person can do when the world keeps knocking them back down. All in all it's very authentic and true to life, and holds up incredibly well. I guess it can at times feel kind of didactic, there are several scenes where it slips close to "the writer speaks to the audience through a character", but it never goes too far. Beyond that there's not really much to criticize. Considering this movie was made with a very meager budget it's strong in all the right areas.
