Straight Outta Compton (2015) Review

 Straight Outta Compton (2015) Review

 It has been a long time since I wrote a review. I apologize for that. I admit I got a bit burned out and stepped away from writing all together. I'm now back to doing what I first loved. Writing. Reviewing. Sharing my thoughts on films I see. All I can really say now is, I'm glad I'm back.

Set in the mid-to-late 1980’s, Straight Outta Compton tells the story of rap group N.W.A. The title of the film is the same as their debut album, which has frequently been called one of the best rap albums ever made. I've listened to it multiple times and its brutality is only matched by its brilliance. Unfortunately, much of the film lacks the punch that the album has. Don’t get me wrong. It’s a decent film at times. It's your basic biopic and can’t help but drop into those clichés we’ve all seen in countless other biopics, except there are more scenes when it doesn't do that than scenes where it does. There are those few shining moments.

The original members of the group are Ice Cube (played by the real Ice Cube's son, O'Shea Jackson Jr.), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), DJ Yella (Neil Brown Jr.), and MC Ren (Aldis Hodge). Each one of them (as stated in the film) grew up in Compton, Los Angeles. Each has various goals and ideas of what they want to accomplish, even if we really only get to explore Ice Cube’s, Dr. Dre’s, and Eazy-E’s. After several run-ins (each more unjustified than the last) with members of the Los Angeles Police Department, Dr. Dre convinces Eazy-E to put the money he gets from selling drugs to good use and together they form Ruthless Records. The group records a single song, called “Boyz N The Hood”. Most music moguls hate it, objecting to its language and stating that it would never receive radio play. The song ultimately becomes the number one most requested song for six weeks. One manager, Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti) approaches Eazy-E and informs him that he would like to make him and the group legit and that, working together, they could make it big.

That’s just a basic plot outline. The film further deals with police brutality, sex, betrayal, censorship, and several other themes that I don’t want to give away too much about, as I fear that it will lessen the potential impact if you read about it here. The film juggles several of these quite well and from the perspective of its characters and not the average audience. When the members of the group talk about the ways they have been victimized and brutalized by members of law enforcement (specifically in their song “F**k Tha Police”), they are not speaking to everyone’s experiences. They are speaking of their own. One could conceivably make the argument that this would cause many audience members to ignore that aspect, since they can’t relate to it. Well, my friends, that is how you learn about people. By trying to see a world that you might not be able to relate to. By hearing of, and listening to, someone else’s experience. Part of me, a small part, apologizes if this review has suddenly turned political but one cannot ignore those aspects of Straight Outta Compton and how timely they are.

Sections of the film, sadly, feel like they are missing. It jumps whole stretches of time and if not for the occasional “time and location” title on the screen I would have been lost. Not every biopic needs to do that. Gloss over the mundane so we can get to the really good, inspiring moments in an individual’s, or group of individuals’, lives. I would love to have seen these characters in their childhoods. What started them off on these paths they are on when we first meet them. Even fifteen minutes could be devoted to this. Don’t ignore it completely. It’s still just as valid and important as the rest of it.

The film features several strong performances. Giamatti knocks it out of the park as always and Jackson does great work at incorporating the voice and mannerisms of his father. No easy task. Additionally, Hawkins has several great moments (one that nearly brought me to tears) where he makes great use of the script written by Johnathon Herman and Andrea Berloff. Those performances deserve more recognition than they got. However, I must say that the best performance in the film is by Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E. Everything he does in the film is correct and appears effortless. He doesn’t waste a single, solitary moment when he’s onscreen. Like so many well-respected actors of the past we have no idea what he’s going to do next. From scene to scene, you wonder if he’s going to start throwing punches or burst into tears. It’s that unpredictability in his performance that makes him so watchable. He fits the part and I truly look forward to see what he does with his career.

★★★