‘Hangin’ With the Homeboys’ By Desson Howe Washington Post Staff Writer September 27, 1991

Director: Joseph B. Vasquez Cast: Doug E. Doug; Mario Joyner; John Leguizamo Under 17 restricted Compare prices for this movie Find local video stores More movie shopping Save money with NextCard Visa

Imagine a collaboration between John Hughes and the creators of the United Colors of Benetton commercials. Now throw in director Joseph B. Vasquez's personal memories of an adolescence in the South Bronx.

But hold it there. "Homeboys" is not super great. There are heavyhanded public service messages about drinking and driving and wearing a condom (please, never try all three at once), and many of the characters are weakly drawn. But there's a corny, klutzy, spirited charm about the whole thing. The spirit the friends have on their loose, freewheeling night is the one in which you should watch this.

The Homebuddies are introduced to us in signature vignettes. There's Willie (Doug E. Doug), an unemployed, amateur militant who avoids work programs and thinks everything's a racist confrontation. "It's because I'm black, isn't it?" he says whenever he's in trouble. There's his friend Johnny (John Leguizamo), a simpleminded, Puerto Rican grocery clerk, who dreams of dating the local bombshell who often picks through the vegetables.

Aspiring actor Tom (Mario Joyner) claims his stunning cameo in the movie "Rainman" was cut out. He likes to lead the four friends in "jammies," in which they fake a gang rumble, then tell alarmed witnesses they're just acting. Finally, there's Vinny (Nestor Serrano), an incorrigible rake, who insists he's Italian, even to his friends. He's really a Puerto Rican called Fernando.

At loose ends one Friday, the four embark on a boys' night out. They cruise the neighborhood. They head to Manhattan. They yell at women. They get thrown out of a Puerto Rican party. Tom smashes the car into a wall. They have a run-in with transit cops for jumping the subway turnstile. Johnny and Tom discover things about their girlfriends they didn't know (in boyz comedies, you can't trust women) . . . .

Throughout this evening, they fight and argue with each other, treading constantly on racial corns. The infighting is the movie's main strain. It goes something like this: Vinny can't stand Johnny because he's always getting depressed. Willie won't go anywhere without Johnny. Tom has had it with Willie's money borrowing. Johnny thinks Vinny's a jerk for not acting Puerto Rican. He also yells at Tom for swigging beers at the wheel. Willie, as usual, blames other people's racism for his failings.

Amusing retorts fly. College, recalls Vinny, "was the most miserable, frustrating, humiliating two weeks of my life." Tom remembers those halcyon acting-workshop days when his fellow students "looked up to me like I was William Shatner."

At the party, Johnny teaches Tom how to dance his way. When Tom jokes that he'd better stop before he turns Puerto Rican, Johnny accuses him of racism. "Man, that ain't no racist statement," says Tom. "I don't look good in bellbottoms."

The main weakness is in the writing. Vasquez seems to throw in a fight a minute, just for the sake of it. The characters aren't always consistent. If Johnny's such a goody-goody drip, why does he leap over that turnstile, not to mention crowd into a porno booth? But these credibility lapses are nothing compared to what happens after that car crash. This one stretches believability to the breaking point: No way does a tow truck show up that fast when your car's broken down.

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