The Wood . Tucson Weekly . 07-26-99

The Wood

DIRECTED BY: Rick Famuyiwa

REVIEWED: 07-26-99

MTV Productions hopes to cash in on those who listened to rap and R&B artists in the 1980s, rather than the New Wave music defining most recent films about the decade. This mildly entertaining fellowdrama about three teenage boys who grew up in Englewood, California, is narrated in flashbacks by Mike (Omar Epps) as he and Slim (Richard T. Jones) attempt to get their commitment-weary friend Roland (Taye Diggs) to the altar on his wedding day. The contemporary sequences adequately establish their ties, but those set in the past are poorly paced, awkwardly acted and simplistically written. Thankfully, this male bonding film is true to the genre and includes the obligatory naked group-showering sequence. Though Mike assures us that "the Wood" refers to his hometown, I know what I saw.

--Polly Higgins

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The Wood

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