I'm probably just a little bit too white to review this movie. I'm that kind of white guy who gets nervous looking at signs that say 'Compton' much less ever having been within ten miles of it in my life. I'm not a huge hip-hop connoisseur, I mean my God, I use words like 'connoisseur'. However, I do have a large amount of respect for the music of N.W.A. I have the album 'Straight Outta Compton' on vinyl as well as Dre's The Chronic. Both of those albums were a major part of my college existence as well as the soundtracks to most of our house parties. Yet, I never knew the story of the band. And while it could've been your average, run of the mill music biopic (and it kinda is), with confident direction, amazing performances, and a perfect flow, Straight Outta Compton is a capable (semi-auto)biography with legs to stand on.
Yes, it's a film told about a group written by people of the group that leaves out, I'm assuming, a good chunk of personal negativity about certain members about the band... it doesn't seem to be entirely fluff. Each member of the band have their strengths displayed almost as often as their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. They aren't just shown as stereotypes but as human beings living in a culture where music is their only outlet of rebellion that isn't actual physical violence. This was during a time where most of white America wasn't ready to hear it (especially the police), but paved the way for hip hop to become a predominant staple in American music. This is where the film shines brightly with it's very obvious love for the conception of west coast rap. I mean, they even got Tupac in the movie. I'm talking the actual Tupac finally showed us he isn't really dead and appears briefly in this film (it isn't really him probably, but dude looks just like him).
The actors, mostly unknowns, are perfect in their respective roles. Especially the main three of the band-- Ice Cube, Dre, and Eazy-E. While Cube and Dre's characters are likely told with a bit more fluff than what probably really happened, Eazy-E was shown through most of the movie to be a real piece of shit (though not as much of a piece of literal human trash as Suge Knight). Then, of course, there's Paul Giamatti in the role of the band's manager which is apparently his new typecasted role in films now. I mean, he's great at it, but this is the third time we've seen him as some sort of band weasel. The story itself actually goes a lot further than I had anticipated from the trailers. It begins before the group forms, to the rise in fame and glory, to the break up, to the solos, all the way leading up to (SPOILER ALERT) E's death. There's a decade worth of storytelling crammed into two and a half un-wasted hours of provocative story.
Director F. Gary Gray (who, it turns out, also directed Cube in 1995's Friday) directs his film with a level of respect for the group, but doesn't allow them to sugarcoat a lot. While there may be no mention of Dre's penchant for Ray Rice-ing women, he isn't this infallible character either. None of them are. In fact, they even seem to downplay just how educated and intelligent Ice Cube actually is. And though I have to sincerely laugh at the fact that I saw a trailer for Cube's new film Ride Along 2 where he plays a cop, before the film about a group's strong opposition to militarized police force is the epitome of irony, there is a beautiful, albeit heartbreaking portrait accurately depicting street life.
The film is well-written, well-directed, well-acted, and one of the best biopics in recent memory.
B
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