Synopsis for
Boyz n the Hood (1991) More at IMDbPro »

The film opens in 1984, focusing on three young black male youths, Tre, Doughboy, and Ricky, as they grow up in South Central, Los Angeles. Tre Styles is an intelligent young student, but encounters disciplinary problems at a young age. His mother Reva Devereaux (Angela Bassett), decides it would be best for her son if Tre were to live with his father, Furious Styles (Laurence Fishburne). Furious is a no nonsense disciplinarian who teaches his son how to be a man. Tre begins his new life in South Central L.A. and reunites with old friends Doughboy, Ricky, and Little Chris though shortly after being reunited, Doughboy and Chris are arrested for shoplifting from a local convenience store.

Seven years later in 1991, the three boys lead very different lives. Tre (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a high school senior aspiring to become a college man, Ricky (Morris Chestnut) an All-American football player, and Doughboy (Ice Cube) a crack dealing gangster. The film offers a keen insight on racial inequality, drugs, sex, and gang violence.

Doughboy has just been released from prison and spends most of the time hanging out with friends Chris (now confined to a wheelchair), Monster and Dookie. Ricky is a star running back at Crenshaw High School. He has a son with his girlfriend Shanice (Alysia Rogers) and is being recruited by the University of Southern California, but needs to earn a minimum SAT score of 700 to receive an athletic scholarship. Tre also attends Crenshaw High School with Ricky and also has a girlfriend, Brandi (Nia Long). Tension exists between the two because he wants to have a sexual relationship with Brandi, who resists the idea because of her Catholic faith.

Tre is torn by his desire to be a success and live up to his father's expectation and the pull of peer pressure to be more involved in the local gang culture of Doughboy and his crew. The climax of the film depicts Ricky's murder by members of a the local Crips, with whose leader he had a minor conflict, ironically after the audience learns that he has achieved the 700 SAT score necessary to attend USC. Doughboy, Monster, and Dookie intend to avenge Ricky's death. Tre, who is Rickys best friend, takes Furious' gun, but is stopped by him before leaving the house. Furious convinces Tre not to take the gun and seek revenge and Tre seems to relent, but he soon joins Doughboy and his friends on a revenge mission. Half way through the trip, Tre realizes his father was correct, asks Doughboy to pull the car over, and returns home. Doughboy and his two friends proceed and avenge Ricky's murder, gunning down his killers in cold blood.

The film ends the following morning with a conversation between Tre and Dough Boy. Dough Boy understands why Tre left the revenge mission and both laments the circumstances that exist in South Central and questions whether or not they are locked in an unending cycle of violence. The end titles reveal that Doughboy was murdered two weeks later, and Tre went on to college with Brandi in Atlanta (with Tre enrolling at Morehouse, and Brandi at nearby Spelman).

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The story opens in 1984. A young African-American boy, Tre Styles, whom lives with his mother, goes to school one day with a few of his friends. One of his friends asks the rest of the kids if they heard a shooting that had taken place nearby the night before. The boy invites the rest of his friends to see the crime scene in front of an abandoned garage. The garage door is riddled with bullet holes and a lot of blood has been spilled on the ground.

The kids go to school and are in class listening to their white teacher talk to them about the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving. Tre scoffs at the lesson and the teacher invites him up to lecture the class. Tre arrogantly accepts and begins to talk about the continent of Africa, showing an impressive amount of knowledge on the subject. When he suggests that all the races of the world first came from Africa, one of the other students is scornful. Tre strikes the boy with the pointer he'd been using and the two scuffle in the class.

Tre is sent home. As he walks down his street he passes a bunch of teenagers beating up on another. We also hear, in voiceover, his mother, Reva, talking to his teacher, who says that Tre is quite intelligent and possesses a vast vocabulary but can't seem to control his temper. When the teacher asks if Tre's father lives with them and if Reva is educated, Reva becomes insulted and hostile and tells the teacher that Tre won't be coming back to school because he's going to live with his father, Furious Styles.

Reva drives Tre to his father's house. On the way, she tells Tre that she doesn't want to see him end up poor, uneducated and living on the streets for the rest of his life. When they get to Furious' house, his mother talks to his father for a brief time and tells Furious that she can't teach Tre to be a mature adult. Tre finds his friends, Chris and Darren (called "Doughboy") hanging around his father's house, but isn't allowed to play with them when he father tells him to rake the leaves on the front lawn. Later, Tre and Furious go over the rules of the house and Furious tells Tre he's not being as hard on him as Tre believes, that he's simply trying to teach Tre responsibility. He also mentions that Tre's friends, who are fatherless, will wind up less fortunate than Tre.

The next day, Tre goes to Doughboy's house. Dough's brother, Ricky, is one of Tre's best friends, however, the two brothers have different fathers and their mother clearly favors Ricky. While Tre waits outside, Doughboy's mother berates him, calling him lazy and stupid. Doughboy walks out and he and Tre wait for Ricky, who carries a football. They're joined by Chris, who asks them if they want to see a dead body. They go to where the corpse is laying and while they stare at it, a group of tough-looking teenagers walk up on them and demand Ricky's football, but promising not to keep it. Scared, Ricky gives it to them and it's clear the boys are going to keep it. Doughboy walks over to one of the boys and demands the ball back. When he tries to take it and fails, he kicks the bigger boy in the leg. The boy backhands Doughboy and kicks him. Dough, Tre and Chris all begin to leave. When Ricky looks back at the teenagers, one of them relents and throws the ball back to Ricky. The three friends leave with Doughboy mumbling about going to the store. Ricky tells him he has no money but Dough says he's "going anyway."

Tre goes fishing with his father. At the ocean, Furious asks his son if he's a leader or a follower. Tre enthusiastically says he's a leader. Furious also asks Tre what he knows about sex. Tre gives a crude explanation and Furious tells him that anyone can have a baby but it takes a "real man to be a father," relating his own experience at becoming Tre's father at the age of 17. He also talks about how he joined the Army and felt discriminated against and that Tre should never consider joining the Army. The two drive back home and see a police car outside Doughboy's house. Dough and Chris are being arrested for shoplifting.

Seven years later a party is being held at Ricky and Dough's house. Dough has just been released from prison on a charge that isn't explained. Tre goes to the party and meets Dough. Dough's mother talks to Tre and asks him to talk to Dough about staying out of prison. Tre finds Dough playing dominoes with Chris (now in a wheelchair) and another of his small gang, Monster. Also at the party is Brandi, Tre's girlfriend. Tre has his apprehensions about dating Brandi because she won't have sex with him. Tre also hasn't called her for several days and she leaves when a conversation about the subject goes nowhere. When the food is served, Tre suggests that the men at the party wait for the women to get their meals first. Ricky is also at the party and we see that he is now a father with an infant son. The child's mother lives with Ricky and his family at their mother's house.

Tre heads home with a plate of food for his father. He notices a toddler playing in the street and takes her home to his drug-addicted mother, admonishing her for not watching her child and for not changing the baby's diapers. She offers him oral sex in exchange for money but Tre refuses. As he crosses the street, a red car stops abruptly in front of him. One of the back windows rolls down and an angry-looking gang member points a sawed-off, double-barreled shotgun at Tre. Tre, though frightened, stands his ground and the car peels off.

At home, Tre gives his father the food he brought home and asks Furious to trim his hair. While he does, Tre bemusedly tells his father that he's getting older. Furious, also amused, reminds Tre that Tre is only 17 years younger than him. Tre jokes a bit about his future children bothering their grandfather for money and Furious becomes agitated, asking Tre if he's protecting himself if he's sexually active. Tre tells his father a fictional story about having sex with a teenaged woman he met and Furious scolds him for not using a condom.

The next morning, Tre picks up Ricky and they head to school. Tre mentions the conversation with his father and reveals he's a virgin. Ricky laughs at first but apologizes after a few moments. After school, Ricky goes to football practice and Tre talks to Brandi. She still refuses to have sex with him because she's Catholic. Tre tries several arguments but Brandi remains steadfast. However, the two reconcile.

That night, while Doughboy hangs out on his front porch, an admissions representative from USC talks with Ricky about entering the prestigious university on a football scholarship. The rep suggests that football should not be Ricky's only goal for college, that he should explore other academic majors like business or computer sciences. All that remains for Ricky to qualify for the scholarship is to take the SAT.