Straight Outta Compton

I think it's best to get the politics out of the way first in a post like this so I'll summarize my thoughts briefly. Straight Outta Compton is one of those eerily, perfectly-timed films when speaking about it's partial focus on police brutality and racial profiling. My opinion on many of the current events in this nation is that most officers of the law are good, decent people but because of a population (that is larger than it should be in a country like this) of power hungry egomaniac policemen, they have tainted a profession that, day in and day out, does more good than most others. The media has not helped in this regard, quickly throwing facts out the window in preference of sensationalism. Personally, I have been taking each one of these events, of which I agree there are too many, in a case by case manner. I'd argue there is a certain degree of police brutality in all of them and in several of these high profile instances, the cop should be tried and held accountable for their actions. But, there are also a handful of instances where, based on what details the general public has, the cop seemed justified in their actions. Clearly I wasn't around Compton in the early 90s, but I imagine that many of the same issues faced back then were similar to the ones we see now. The film paints an awfully negative picture of the police, but as I just stated, I genuinely have no idea how accurate or not that depiction is, so I took it at face value. 

All that out of the way, let's move on from the politics, whether you agree or disagree with me, and get to the review of the film, which is why you're here in the first place.

Straight Outta Compton is the biopic on the members of the rap group N.W.A., who were, and continue to be, highly influential in much of today's rap culture. The story of their creation, success, and further careers is all told here and it results in one of the best films of the year.

As a Broncos fan, I pity all these
sorry Raiders fans!

The first praise I'd like to heap on the film is its core performances. The three young actors that portray Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E all do fantastic, aside from the fact that they look ridiculously similar to their real life counterparts. Ice Cube is played by his actual son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., while Dr. Dre and Eazy-E are played by Corey Hawkins and Jason Mitchell, respectively. All these young men portray the rap superstars accurately and with confidence, but they aren't exactly phoning it in either. There are tense, tender, and funny moments, of which all three of them are able to capture equally as impressively. Paul Giamatti also does a solid job playing their early manager, Jerry, throughout, though it seemed to me that he got a lot of screen time less because it was critical to the story but more because it was Paul Giamatti. Several scenes between Jerry and Eazy-E feel like deja vu and given the film's lengthy, slightly unjustified runtime of 2.5 hours, I think having a smaller focus on Jerry and his impact on the group in their later days would have helped move things along. I also found Suge Knight's character portrayal odd, and almost villainous, though I'd credit that more to the way he was written as opposed to the actor who betrayed him. 

Oh Paul, you Silver Fox, you!

In this scene, our rap trio creates a dance for a
Celine Dion ballad.

Leading me to a natural segue into my next point: the script of Compton is fantastic. It's obviously very R-rated, but it builds the characters well while also keeping us informed with what's happening. The story of N.W.A. is a highly interesting one and given my unfamiliarity with the subject I was constantly learning things that I had really no idea happened. The script also injects quite a bit of humor throughout with some solid one-liners and moments of camaraderie between the group that are highly enjoyable while helping us to care for the characters at the same time. Compton does a solid job at not making the trio seem like saints either. Sure, there are probably some aspects of their lives that are left out, but they still make some bad decisions and come across as bad people during small portions of the film. They're all redeemed by the ending, but I appreciated that the film seemed to give a mostly even-keeled view at their lives. 

Along with the script, I also really enjoyed the pacing. For a 2.5 hour long film, it truly didn't feel like it and other than losing some steam somewhere along the second hour (most likely during a repetitive Jerry/Eazy-E scene), the editing is crisp and moves us from one important scene to the next. The film can very clearly be split into three sections: forming the group, the group finding success, and post N.W.A. happenings. Each one is critical to the overall story and interesting in their own right and it would be hard for me to pick a weak link of the three. I did really hate the ending though as it's hugely abrupt and I don't think it had quite the impact the creators thought it did. Luckily, it's followed by a credits sequence that details each member's successes after the end point in the film such as Ice Cube's acting career and Dre's Beats empire. Coupled with the editing and pacing is some great cinematography, especially during the film's performances and when it's in Compton, to really make this an all around high quality film. And, as to be expected, the soundtrack is sick as hell with many of their famous singles being highlighted but also containing nods to their smaller hits. 

Pretty cool ^^

Straight Outta Compton is the best music biopic I've reviewed while running this site. Granted it's competition is small, but that shouldn't diminish that statement. It's a well crafted and organized film that is of a very high quality. The subject matter is both entertaining and interesting, and the performances and music itself are outstanding. This all leads to a true winner that really should be getting some considerations come award season. 

CONS:

• A few too many scenes between Jerry and Eazy-E, of which many are similar
• Abrupt ending
• Loses a little bit of steam somewhere along the way, most likely unavoidable given the lengthy runtime
• Part of me felt like we weren't getting the whole story at times
• Suge Knight's character is oddly/poorly crafted

PROS:

• Great performances from these young actors. They truly feel like the characters they are portraying, not to mention the fact that they look like them too
• Good performances from everyone else
• Tells a highly interesting story from start to finish. I enjoyed that it was a total view from the beginnings of the group to where they are now
• Strong pacing and editing make this a really long film that doesnt feel like it
• Great script with plenty of funny and heartfelt moments
• Strong, but not overdone focus on the music and the controversy
• Great soundtrack
• Good cinematography

 Rath's Review Score: 9/10