​FILMS

straight outta compton

2015 review number 133:

Straight Outta Compton: (Drama/Music): 73 out of 100: Hip-hop is a culture that doesn't appeal to everyone. After all, it tends to glamorise violence at times. However, the messages that are relayed are often powerful and reflective of the times. Straight Outta Compton is a biopic that comfortably fits the bill of a message movie that alerts audiences to the struggles that many US citizens faced in the 1980s and indicative of the class and race wars that still exist in the US today.

 

This is the story of N.W.A. (Niggaz Wit Attitudes), a hip hop/gangsta rap group from the mean streets of Compton, Los Angeles. At the beginning of the film, we are introduced to each member of the group before they became famous. O'Shea Jackson aka Ice Cube (O'Shea Jackson Jr) is the 'poet', Andre Jackson aka Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) is the producer along with Antoine Carraby aka DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr), Eric Wright aka Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell) is the performer, and to round off the group there is Lorenzo Jerald Patterson aka MC Ren (Aldis Hodge). They all meet manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti) who had success with international acts in the 1960s and 1970s. He takes N.W.A from obscurity to stardom but it all implodes when the group disbands.

 

Jackson Jr channels his father as Ice Cube. He is dynamic and even adopts the mean scowl that his father is renowned for. Hawkins demonstrates his dramatic skills in several memorable scenes with his mother (Lisa Renee Pitts) who is equally adept as her co-star in conveying the emotions that her family is experiencing. Giamatti is a scene stealer as the crooked manager who has ulterior motives. He is exemplary in playing character roles such as this one which allows him to flex his acting muscles.

 

The concert performances provide an electric atmosphere. A highlight of one of these concerts is when the Detroit police department enforces a crackdown on one of N.W.A's major hits F... tha Police. The group always seem to run foul of the police and this is also evident in a tense and powerful scene involving the LAPD when they were recording their first album. The brutality that affects them represents the racial divide that they wanted to write about and this has been achieved well in the many scenes that depict black violence. Archival footage of Rodney King being bashed by the police in 1991 also emphasises the race wars.

 

The scenes involving the contractual dispute and the disbanding of the group are not as interesting. They consume a fair bit of screen time and although intense at times, become laboured after a while. These scenes allow the majority of the cast to shout at the top of their lungs and indulge in some melodramatic moments. The gang talk is also occasionally difficult to decipher. A cut of about 20 minutes would have tightened the whole production.

 

Even though I'm not a fan of gangsta rap or hip hop, there were enough interesting scenes to keep me riveted to the screen. Obviously if you are passionate about this form of entertainment, you will be in raptures with the depiction of one of the most influential 'protest' groups of the 1980s.

 

Starring O'Shea Jackson Jr, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr and Paul Giamatti

(147 minutes)

Parental advice: Coarse language, violence, nudity, sex scene, sexual references, adult themes and drug use

Additional scene during or after credits: Yes, during the credits there is archival footage of the real members of NWA and interviews of artists like Eminem who pay tribute to the group.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsbWEF1Sju0 (Movie trailer)

(Reviewed on Tuesday 8th September, 2015)

 

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