Main Cast: Doug E. Doug, Mario Joyner, John Leguizamo, Nestor Serrano, Kimberly Russell
Release Year: 1991
Country: US
Run Time: 89 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Hangin' with the Homeboys follows four young men--two Black, two Puerto Rican--over the course of one night in the Bronx. During the night, they have several misadventures as they talk, argue, play and get into accidents. This coming-of-age film was directed by the late Joseph B. Vasquez and features an early performance by John Leguizamo. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
Mary Ward - Luna; Kira Arne - Disco Woman; Rafael Baez - Party Tough Guy; Marie Barrientos - Party Woman; Sandra Berrios - Party Woman; Gene Canfield - Transit Policeman; Chic Street Man - Pool Hall Man; Rony Clanton - Beggar; Christine Claravall - Daria; Victor L. Cook - Louie-Louie; Tony Cucci - Bouncer; Cheryl Freeman - Telemarketing Operator; Paula Garcés - Harassed Sister; Rosemary Jackson - Lila; Natalia Lazarus - Harassed Sister; Victor Mack - Telemarketing Operator; Arnold Molina - Party Tough Guy; Reggie Montgomery - Rasta; Antone Pagan - Waiter; Clayton Prince - Frederick; Steve Randazzo - Pedro; Marisol R. Reyes - Sara; La Tanya Richardson - Caseworker; Anthony Ruiz - Angry Father; Jonathan Solomon - Bartender; Billy Strong - Transit Policeman; Ali Thomas - Disco Woman; Michelle Thomas - Telemarketing Operator; Danitra Vance - Pool Hall Woman; Tony Vasquez - Party Tough Guy; David Weinberg - Tow Truck Driver; Ellis Williams - Bobby; Deborah Aquila
Credit
Isabel Bau Madden - Art Director, Mary Jane Fort - Costume Designer, Isabel Bau Madden - Costume Designer, Joseph B. Vasquez - Director, Michael Schweitzer - Editor, Anghel Decca - Cinematographer, Richard Brick - Producer, Janet Grillo - Producer, Anna Czerwatiuk - Set Designer, William Sarokin - Sound/Sound Designer, Chuck Jeffreys - Stunts, Joseph B. Vasquez - Screenwriter
The film revolves around 4 friends, all young men going nowhere with their lives. Tom and Johnny have dead-end jobs (one works as a telemarketer and aspires to be an actor, the other is a supermarket clerk), while Willie and Fernando (who prefers the name "Vinny") are unemployed and use people to get what they want. They go for a "guys' night" out on the town from the Bronx to Manhattan, and fall victim to various disasters, most of which they bring on themselves. During their "night out", their relationships with one another become strained as the various situations lead to conflict between them, and by the end of the movie they have all separated.
Main characters
Tom (Mario Joyner) is an aspiring actor who works as a telemarketer while waiting for his big break. His girlfriend cancels their date for the night, so he goes out with his friends, and later finds out she is out with another man. At the end of the movie, he reveals that he is weary of his friends and their destructive and derisive behavior between themselves. He is especially angry at Willie and Vinny, who manipulate him into paying for them because they are unemployed, but constantly criticize and make fun of him.
Willie (Doug E. Doug) is an angry unemployed malcontent who embraces the Black Power movement, but is genuinely devoted to his best friend Johnny. He has a tenuous friendship with Vinny and a passing friendship with Tom (which disintegrates when Tom calls him on his mooching). He is hypocritical, calling Tom a failure even though he is comparable to a bum, and calling LaLa an Uncle Tom because she "dresses white", but he is not a member of any political organization and does not even vote.
Fernando (aka Vinny) (Nestor Serrano) is a philandering Puerto Rican who is ashamed of his heritage and pretends to be Italian, much to Johnny's horror. He later has to confront this fact when a police officer asks him about his nationality. The oldest of the four, he is cynical and verbally abusive to virtually everyone. He is a sex-hound who tries to talk to every pretty girl he sees. He is both amused at and contemptuous of Johnny's naivete and has a strained interaction with him because he sees him as a sad individual who would depress everybody in the gang, especially him. Vinny is unemployed, but is supported by the generosity of his many girlfriends. Hypocritically, he openly derides Willie's lack of employment.
Johnny (John Leguizamo) is the youngest of the group, who is idealistic and naive. Also Puerto Rican, Johnny is very proud of his heritage, unlike Vinny. He works at a grocery store, but has an opportunity for a scholarship. Romantically naive and having a rather chivalrous ideal towards love, he is infuriated to find Vinny dancing suggestively with Daria, the girl he has a secret crush on. The last straw comes when Vinny selfishly demands an apology for "ruining his night". Instead, Johnny punches him on the jaw and knocks him unconscious. At the end of the movie, the disastrous night makes him decide to go for the scholarship and start a new chapter in his life, away from his "friends".
