THE WOOD
Reviewed by Harvey Karten, Ph.D. Paramount Pictures Director: Rick Famuyiwa Writer: Rick Famuyiwa, Todd Boyd Cast: Taye Diggs, Omar Epps, Richard T. Jones, Sean Nelson, Malinda Williams, De'Aundre Bonds, Duane Finley, Trent Cameron
Based on writer-director Rick Famuyiwa's life in the upper- middle class California suburb of Inglewood (hence the title), "The Wood" is a sporadically funny buddy movie about three men who meet in junior high school, and carry on their friendship through high school and beyond--ultimately getting together yet again at the wedding ceremony of one of the pleasant young men. Famuyiwa's comedy features an all- black cast (just two white faces appear briefly in the entire movie). Unlike "Waiting to Exhale" and "The Color Purple" man-hating is conpicuously absent except on a comic level; unlike "Dead Presidents" and a host of 1970s blaxploitation films there is no violence to speak of. And except for a single use of the term "whiteboy" used without hostility, the story elicits no racial animosity of even a single mention of racial conflict. If Rick Famiyiwa's tale is truly autobiographical, he is interested primarily in evoking the sweet memories of life with his two good pals over the period of more than a decade. Since the African-Americans in the story are for the most part upper middle-class, the subtext running throughout is that if you have money, you don't face the devastating problems associated with growing up in poor neighborhoods.
As in Neil Simon's play "Plaza Suite," the movie hones in on a person who gets high anxiety on a wedding day. Unlike Mr. Simon's bride--who hides in the bathroom until she is coaxed out by her friends and neighbors--the groom, Roland (Taye Diggs, whom you'll remember for his role as Angela Bassett's muscular playboy in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back")--drinks himself into a stupor at the home of a former girlfriend to reconsider his resolution. The wedding which is to take place between Roland and Lisa (Lisaraye) is used as a framing device. Most of the movie deals with the hopes and fears of the trio of male buddies when they were teens, though Famuyiwa frequently flashes to the present to punctuate the close bond felt by the three men.
As the trio reminisce, they are brought back at first to the meeting between the 14-year-old South Carolina exile Mike (Sean Nelson) and the two who take the greenhorn in to show him the ropes: young Slim (Duane Finley) and young Roland (Trent Cameron). At first bewildered by the hipness of California after his childhood in Winston-Salem, Mike is to grow from an awkward lad who had never danced (much less kissed a girl) to the winner of two macho bets he makes with his new pals--which become the source of much of the comedy. Hoping to fit in with his new acquaintances, Mike bets that he will have the guts to pinch the booty (butt) of a classmate, the gorgeous Alicia (Malinda Williams). He later ups the ante when he joins the others in betting who will be the first boy to lose his virginity (though apparently the fellows are willing to trust one another on this one). The story's funniest scenes occur as Steve Bernstein's camera focuses on each of the three would-be studs as he races the others in the separate bedrooms.
For better or worse, "The Wood" never takes on the vulgarity of "American Pie," which is based on a similar wager, or the caustic tone of "Cruel Intentions," which centers on a bet that one Casanova will successfully deflower a confirmed virgin. Instead, "The Wood" is most engaged in illustrating the value and resilience of friendship, appending the insight that the bond between males is more secure than the attachment between the sexes. While Mike, Slim and Roland remain the best of buddies throughout, none of the three is still hanging out with his school-time girl friend, though Mike may just get a second chance when he runs into his high-school confidant and lover at the wedding.
While the ensemble perform their roles flawlessly, the characters are far more interesting as teens than they are as more-or-less proper and reasonably responsible adults. Omar Epps as the older Mike appears to be the writer's alter ego, at times even facing the camera as though he were acting on the stage narrating a few details for the sole benefit of the audience. Richard T. Jones as the adult Slim and Taye Diggs as the adult Roland complement Epps' performance reliably in this pleasant but ultimately mild take on the altogether small problems faced by people with money.
Rated R. Running Time: 110 minutes. (C) 1999 Harvey Karten
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