The Wood

Plot

Roland (Taye Diggs) is getting married (and is currently missing) and Slim (Richard T. Jones), who scoffs at the idea of marriage, is furious at Roland for disappearing. The story reminisces back to Mike's (Omar Epps, portrayed as a youth by Sean Nelson) first encounters with Roland (Trent Cameron) and Slim (Duane Finley), his first real crush on a girl named Alicia (Malinda Williams), and the three young men's misadventures as teenagers growing up in 1980s Inglewood, California ("The Wood"). Shy and awkward, Mike sticks out like a sore thumb on his first day, but is quickly befriended by Slim and Roland.

On a dare from Slim and Roland, Mike runs and grabs Alicia's butt, leading to a big fight with her big brother Stacey (De'Aundre Bonds), a Blood gang member. While he is thoroughly beat down, Mike earns Stacey's private respect for fighting back like a man. Meanwhile in present day, Mike and Slim go to find Roland for his wedding, when they get a call from Tanya (Tamala Jones) saying that she has him with her and that he is very drunk. They go to her house to pick him up to take him back to the wedding to marry his bride Lisa (LisaRaye McCoy) because they only have two hours before the ceremony begins.

Back to their old school times: on their way to their first dance of the year, the boys go to a store that gets held up by Stacey, who recognizes the boys and offers them a ride to the dance. The boys almost get arrested by two cops due to Stacey's broken taillight. Mike's quick thinking prevents one of the cops from finding Stacey's gun and they are let go not realizing that the hold-up Stacey and Boo did is what gotten them off the hook. Impressed, Stacey begins a new friendship with Mike by apologizing for their prior run-in. However, he explains that he was protecting his sister, and, seeing how much Mike likes her, gives him advice on how to win her heart. When they get back to the dance, it is almost over and Mike gets to dance with Alicia and, at the end of the dance, gets her number. Mike and Alicia started dating for three weeks in junior high and then stayed friends. In the present day while reminiscing, Roland gets sick and throws up all over Slim and Mike. Now, the men only have an hour left before the wedding and they have to get cleaned up, so they take their clothes to the cleaners. Mike, returning to their memories when they were juniors in high school, remembers them thinking about sex, ways to get it and making a lot of bets as to who has it first. Mike has a girlfriend and Alicia has a boyfriend. Despite both of them already in a relationship with somebody else, one day Mike and Alicia walk to her house from the library talking about the Homecoming Dance. They hear the first song, to which they danced to remember their first kiss. They begin to have sex, but stop because Mike's condom breaks. Alicia tells Mike that Stacey should have a condom in his room. Mike finds a condom in Stacey's room and has to hide under his bed, so as not to get caught when Stacey and his girlfriend come home. After they leave, Mike goes back to Alicia's room and they finally make love. Mike wins the bet, but he doesn't tell Roland and Slim out of respect for Alicia. Mike, now hiding his still present shyness with a veil of over confidence, reconnects romantically with Alicia. It's revealed in the present that after high school, Alicia and Mike went their separate ways. The boys finally make it to the wedding and Roland apologizes to a furious Lisa for leaving her worried. Before the ceremony begins, Mike sees Alicia (Sanaa Lathan). Roland and Lisa get married. Mike tells his last childhood memory, and its when they go to a homecoming dance for their school and that they will be the boys from "The Wood".

Cast

Critical Reviews

The film holds a 61% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 56 reviews, with the critical consensus: "A charming piece of work with believable characters."

Awards and nominations

2000 Black Reel Awards

2000 NAACP Image Awards

2001 ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released on July 13, 1999 by Jive Records featuring rap and R&B music. The soundtrack found great success, peaking at #16 on the Billboard 200 and #2 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, and was certified gold by the RIAA on August 25, 1999.