The same problem plays out in the film: Most of the women in Straight Outta Compton are scantily-clad eye candy hanging out at pool parties and hotel rooms, with even the members’ wives or girlfriends given little significant screen time. While the band attacked systemic inequality in its songs, the albums’ pig-headed, immature attitude toward women was a constant detriment, needlessly distracting from N.W.A’s worthy themes. Unfortunately, Straight Outta Compton fails to dig very deeply into N.W.A’s sometimes contradictory lyrical content. Gray does a commendable job giving each song its due in the film, showing how N.W.A evolved from some inexperienced guys performing at the local dancehall to a formidable, dangerous touring act, their incendiary songs putting them in the crosshairs of the FBI and police groups. Vibrant, abrasive tracks like Straight Outta Compton, Gangsta Gangsta and especially Fuck Tha Police weren’t mindless antisocial rants but, rather, pointed political commentaries meant to rattle the white establishment. Leigh Savidge with the story) also wants to dig deeper, examining how N.W.A’s music struck a chord with many who felt alienated and marginalised in America, left behind by a racist society. But the screenplay (written by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff, who are both credited alongside S. On one level, Straight Outta Compton is a pretty traditional music biopic, charting how a famous band got together, came up with some smash singles, enjoyed fame and wealth, and then eventually disintegrated. (When N.W.A started, the members were only in their late teens or early 20s.) The filmmaker, collaborating with cinematographer Matthew Libatique, walks a fine line between draping the band members in glory and emphasising their humble origins and youth. ![]() Gray, making his first feature since 2009’s Law Abiding Citizen, has a history with Ice Cube, directing some of his earliest music videos as well as the hit comedy Friday. They, alongside DJ Yella (Neil Brown, Jr.) and MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), form N.W.A, determined to reflect the poverty and racism they see around them in song. Dre (Corey Hawkins) and a budding entrepreneur and drug dealer who calls himself Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell). Straight Outta Compton focuses on three members of N.W.A’s quintet: provocative lyricist Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.) a dedicated beatmaker and DJ known as Dr. Spanning roughly 10 years, the movie opens in 1986 in Compton, a notorious section of Southern California known for drug crime and racial tension between its black citizens and white law enforcement. Solid reviews will be needed to help Straight Outta Compton expand beyond its core constituencies. Endorsed by the band and featuring its biggest hits, the film will appeal to nostalgic hip-hop lovers, but even those with only a cursory knowledge of N.W.A should be sufficiently engaged by the group’s familiar career trajectory. Featuring no big names - unless you count Paul Giamatti in a supporting role as the band’s opportunistic manager - Straight Outta Compton is setting its sights on fans of N.W.A and the countless rap acts it inspired. Opening August 14 in the States, this Universal offering is one of the month’s most intriguing commercial wild cards. embodies the livewire spark that once powered this galvanic group. (playing his father Ice Cube) is a consistent highlight of a lively, hit-or-miss film.Įven when the film goes on biopic autopilot, Jackson, Jr. That said, a star-making turn from O’Shea Jackson, Jr. Gary Gray spending almost two-and-a-half hours chronicling the band in such a way that the marquee moments resonate more than the quieter ones do. Consequently, Straight Outta Compton feels both epic and a touch programmatic, director F. But Straight Outta Compton’s readymade movie-ness cuts both ways: despite a twisty, juicy and compelling story, there remains a staid conventionality that keeps the political and thematic undercurrents from being explored as satisfyingly as one might hope. ![]() The messy rise and fall of N.W.A, one of hip-hop’s most influential groups, provides ample material for a sprawling, entertaining biopic.
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