The Wood Review
by Bob Bloom (cbloom AT iquest DOT net)July 16th, 1999
The Wood (1999) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Taye Diggs, Omar Epps and Richard T. Jones.
"The Wood" is a pleasant, warm comedy about friendship and loyalty.
It is one of those feel-good movies, a nostalgic trip down memory lane featuring likable characters, nice music and humorous situations.
It also is homogenized and non-threatening. Now that is not a criticism as much as an observation.
There is no real dramatic tension in "The Wood" because it is a story involving regular people in ordinary situations.
It is a movie you just sit back, observe and enjoy.
The crux of the story centers on Roland (Taye Diggs) on the day he is to be married. Three hours before the ceremony, the groom turns up missing.
Sent to find him and bring him to his senses are his oldest friends, Mike (Omar Epps) and Slim (Richard T. Jones). The pair find Roland drunk at the home of an old girlfriend.
As his friends drive him around in order to sober him up, various locales around the 'Wood - the nickname for their home, Inglewood, Calif. - rekindle memories and episodes from their adolescence.
The trio first met during junior high school. Mike, recently arrived from North Carolina, hooks up with Roland and Slim, who immediately get the new kid in trouble. They dare him to pinch the behind of Alicia, the prettiest girl in the school.
While Mike gets slapped around for his pains. it also is the beginning of a friendship that as the years progress develops into something deeper and more personal.
"The Wood" is a positive movie. No gang-bangers and no drugs - except for one sequence in which a young man smokes a joint. It presents a slice of black life that few mainstream Hollywood studios would invest money into examining.
The three main actors give strong performances. Diggs, who made his debut as Angela Bassett's lover in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" and was featured earlier this year in the comedy, "Go," is confused and nervous as the uncertain groom.
Epps' Mike is the level-headed member of the trio who, despite failures in his own love life, helps his friend determine his future.
Jones, who co-starred in last year's failed Steven Bochco TV series, "Brooklyn South", is the mouthy, hot-headed fellow, who easily becomes frustrated. At times all he wants to do is slap some sense into his friend.
The three younger actors who play Roland, Mike and Slim as teen-agers - Trent Cameron, Sean Nelson and Duane Finley - also exude that cameraderie.
"The Wood" is an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. Finger-snapping music, a warm and humorous series of vignettes and a group of people you wouldn't mind associating with make "The Wood" a friendly place to visit.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at
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Carol Bloom of Bloom Ink Publishing Professionals
3312 Indian Rock Lane West Lafayette, IN 47906-1203
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