SOURCE: Wilmington, Michael. Review of Baby Boy, by John Singleton. Chicago Tribune (26 June 2001): K2649.

In the following review, Wilmington offers a positive assessment of Baby Boy, commenting that the film will act like “a smack in the face to some audiences.”

Baby Boy is an uncensored, unvarnished portrayal of African-American life in South Central Los Angeles—the site of John Singleton's 1991 breakout hit Boyz N the Hood. His new film is so violent and full of sex, foul language and woman-trashing dialogue that some viewers will recoil. Others may damn it as another exploitative collection of negative stereotypes.

Still others, though, may applaud Singleton's daring, returning to this rough-hewn territory after making his big action hit Shaft. Singleton was 23 when he made Boyz, and once again he trains his sights on young urban Los Angeles males, trapped in a rite of passage and in a world bristling with...