Hangin' with the Homeboys

I starting watching this on Comedy Central and assumed "oh, a film about some guys partying in the Bronx...i'll give it a whirl." I was not expecting a curiously sincere, although somewhat slap-stick, film about class differences in NYC.

The four characters represent the spectrum of what any struggling urban area would produce: a loaner who blames his race on his inability to thrive in society, an actor who tries but eventually fails to make his movie dreams a reality, a gigolo who denies his often maligned heritage in order to court women, and a genuinely earnest stock-boy who secretly desires to do what few in his position are able to: leave the monotony of dead-end beginnings and go to college and experience the world.

After each character is introduced, the film follows the journey of the men from areas of the Bronx (where beer bottles are thrown at the car after a protective father hears one of the men whistling at his daughter) to Midtown Manhattan, where the group partake in some harmless pre-Giuliani peep-show fun.

I rarely comment on films, but I thoroughly enjoyed this 'Hunt's Point Odyssey'. Some of the messages the film tries to convey are done so unrealistically, however, some of the scenes are moving and authentic (an interrogation scene involving a racist Italian subway cop who discredits the gigolo's purported identity by reacquainting him with his given Hispanic name on a driver's license, in an attempt to further emblaze immovable class lines).

Many cities contain areas with steep social and economic gradations, but none compare to NYC. It was entertaining to watch the small victories and defeats of each of these men who are somewhat pathetic, but all share common goal of enjoying themselves. Their journey is a painful reminder of the difficulty inherent in trying to escape the oft-referred realizations of each of their 'seemingly inescapable and meager' respective destinies.

Most (if not all) of the main actors grew up in NYC, and I think that helps to add a sense of realism to their performance.

If you have an open mind and don't mind the unmistakable sound of early 90s rap soundtracks, get this film. Perhaps you will enjoy it as much as I did.

To me, this movie seems less of a "comedy which makes you think", and more of a powerfully in depth character study, which is always making you laugh. But enough pigeon-holing.

This movie is all characters. The key element, for mine, is the symmetry between them. Four guys. Two black guys, two Hispanic. Two with (pathetic) jobs, two without. Two with more than women on their minds, two without. Because the symmetrical dynamic is always switching, we are always privy to meaningful dialogue, and witness powerful confrontations. That is, the director doesn't just make his point in the first 30 minutes, but is always reevaluating his characters, and their struggles.

Each viewer will no doubt have a favourite character, and his journey will be of most interest and focus. The beauty of this movie, however, is that none of the characters are developed at the expense of another. All are richly detailed, and, if you are like me, your focal character may change with every viewing.

None of the characters are overly likeable; we are always confronted with scenes which really demonstrate their failings and shortcomings. Herein lies the strength of the film. Unlike so many other "cool" and "wacky" comedies, these characters have real depth, and we can't. as honest viewers, think any one of the characters are summed up by the words "cool" or "wacky" or any other simplistic assessment that can easily be applied to characters in so many other movies (and fairly, too). They are all distinct in many ways. The most notable example is each character's technique in dealing with the inherent racism of their society. The most fascinating character here is Vinnie, as he chooses rather than confronting this difficult problem, to deny it even applies to him: "He thinks he's Italian".

My only request when seeing this movie, is not to fall into the trap of missing an appreciation of its depth. Sure, it's got a "cool" title, they just cruise around doing cool stuff ("Jose sent me" is such a good idea!), and they say cool one liners. But beyond that, the characters are at once frustrating and liberating, enjoyable and unlikeable, but most of all, they are all very human, very real.

Hangin' with the Homeboys (1991)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Willie (Doug E. Doug) is a black man living on welfare who doesn't see the need for a job because he'll just be a slave to the white man. Tom (Mario Joyner) is an actor trying to make it big, although he doesn't have the talent to do so. His biggest role to date was almost getting a part in the movie Rain Man. Fernando (Nestor Serrano) is a Puerto Rican who pretends to be Italian so that he can get all the women he wants. Johnny (John Leguizamo) is the youngest of the group and he's also a virgin. These seem like four typical people but they are best friends who decide to spend Friday night in Manhattan.

The four friends leave the Bronx heading for Manhattan in hopes of finding some women and wild parties but their night starts off on the wrong track when they wind up at the wrong party and are thrown out on the streets. After wrecking their car, they hit the subway and head to the city where they try to encounter more women and more parties yet nothing seems to be going right. Weighting down the situation is that all four men are having various sorts of problems and when no one else is around the best thing to do is take it out on your friends, which just leads to more problems and more fights.

Hangin' With the Homeboys was released back in 1991 but died a quick death at the box office. This was probably due to the other urban film that year, Boyz N the Hood being a big success so that left this title out in the cold but over the past few years the film has gained a cult following. I wasn't expecting too much out of the film but after viewing it I must admit to now being in that cult group. It's wonderful whenever you enter a film with low expectation but leave it finding a terrific little gem that will hopefully get new fans thanks to this DVD release.

The film was written and directed by Joseph B. Vasquez and his screenplay is something very unique because there are several messages in the film yet he never bashes he viewer over the head with them. Each of the four characters are given their own problems and the film pushes them towards an answer yet the movie doesn't rely on that message and the film ends abruptly with nothing really solved. The biggest highlight of the screenplay is the wonderful dialogue that easily rivals the stuff written by Tarantino. The dialogue brings the four characters to life and while there isn't anything too original here, the dialogue is so refreshing that it's like hearing this stuff for the first time.

All of the dialogue is so natural that it seems this is a documentary rather than an actual film. All the scenes in the movie seem so fresh and real that it seems the actors are improvising rather than speaking from a script. The perfect example of this is a wonderful scene where three of the friends are bashing another member for never having sex. The way the dialogue is given is something that will remind any male viewer of conversations they had with their own friends. Another wonderful section is some fake "ghetto fights", which are staged by the characters to scare the preppy white people that surrounds them in the world.

Bringing this dialogue to life are four wonderful performances and it's no shock that all four actors have gone on to make names for themselves. Doug E. Doug steals the show as the welfare black man refusing to work for the white man who keeps trying to put him down. Everything from his fast talking to his wacky facial expressions just helps bring his character to life. John Leguizamo also turns in wonderful work as the depressed virgin who's always taking heat from his friends. Joyner and Serrano also do nice work in the film.

Hangin' With the Homeboys certainly deserves its cult following and I'm sure it'll get even bigger over the years. I'm sure twenty years from now people will look back on this film the same way they do Diner today. Director/writer Vasquez only made four films before his untimely death and that's a shame because of the wonderful dialogue he brought to his films. This is certainly the film he'll be remembered for and it's a film any male should be able to relate to. We've all had those guys night out and this film brings some of those highlights to life.

I loved this movie. I must have watched it at least 10 times in my life because it's just that good. Usually when I watch it, it's because I recommend it to somebody who has never even heard of it, so I feel the need to let them see my copy. They usually thank me afterwards and agree that it is excellent. It's strange that such a great movie gets so little credit. Not that people don't like it, I guess it's because most people never heard of it. It's a shame.

Next time you go to the video store, keep this one in mind. John Leguizamo does an excellent job in this movie, probably the best performance I've seen from him to this day. Doug E Doug also does a great job in this movie. Although you may not be too familiar with the rest of the small cast, don't let this stop you from checking this movie out, great performances all around. When watching this one, you really get interested in the characters as they are all unique in their own way. Johnny is a shy, honest, hard working young man who lacks experience with women. Willie is an angry man who would rather complain about his situation rather than do anything about it, but deep down he means well. Tommy is a struggling actor with woman troubles and the only one with a car. Last but not least, we have Fernando (or should I say "Vinny"), a self centered womanizer who thinks he is Italian (watch the movie and you'll see what I mean). These four friends go out on the town from the Bronx to Manhattan looking for good times and find themselves in some memorable situations. It's a lot like real life and what makes this movie so great is how the characters relate to each other. The introduction of all the characters is definitely something to see. Great directing, nice cinematography, excellent dialog and not too bad of a sound track. What more can I say.

I recommend this movie to everybody, especially if you like comedies with original jokes that go beyond cheap gags. If you like going out with a small group of friends on a Friday night looking for something to do, this movie will remind you of all those good times. I highly recommend it, so rent it next time you go to the video store.

Watched this only because of high user ratings, that's generally a good sign for something you've not heard about. It's not really comic in the laugh out loud sense, but keeps you giggling and smiling all the way through. But there's far more to it than that, " Because I'm black " is the line you'll take from this film as it exposes this as an excuse for not even trying. It actually interests you in the characters, all well played, because they have so many faults. Why better than Spike Lee, because it stands alone without any racial undertones.