Straight Outta Compton review
Straight Outta Compton review: Hard-hitting, brutally honest, and still very relevant. This biopic about ‘The World’s Most Dangerous Group’ is one of the best films of the year.
They were quite possibly the biggest band in the world at the end of the 1980s; a group born out of the tough streets of South Central, Los Angeles that would go on to sell millions of records in countries all around the world. N.W.A.‘s brutally honest style, accompanied by the creative, banging beats of Andre ‘Dr. Dre’ Young, would tap in to the voice of a generation, and while at times grossly offensive, and indeed often politically incorrect, were absolutely mind-blowingly brilliant in their delivery and execution.
Directed by F. Gary Gray, helmer of films like The Italian Job remake, Be Cool and Friday, Straight Outta Compton tells the story of Andre Young, O’Shea Jackson, Eric Wright, Antoine Carraby and Lorenzo Jerald Patterson, AKA Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella and MC Ren as they’re more commonly known. Starting at the point where Easy-E was selling drugs on the streets of Compton to the absolute height of their short-lived career as a group, Straight Outta Compton tackles that very difficult task of bringing three genres of film together into one; the biopic, the ‘teen hood drama’, and the music movie, and it does it brilliantly.
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Straight Outta Compton review
Running at a lengthy 148 minutes, Straight Outta Compton manages to engross from the very first frame, and hardly skips a beat throughout. Masterfully directed by F. Gary Gray in his first feature since 2009’s Law Abiding Citizen, ‘Compton’ gives as a voyeuristic look into the lives of these five men who were to make American music history at the end of a decade full of new romantic harmonies, power ballads and Michael Jackson at the height of his career. While the film has come into discussion about the exclusion of some the history of certain individuals in the band, it’s clear to see that they have not pulled any punches in other areas of Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff‘s (World Trade Center) excellent script. While the film is indeed produced by Dre and Cube, it doesn’t appear to be biased in any way to one particular member of the band. In fact, the film serves as a warming tribute to N.W.A founding member Easy-E, who succumbed to the AIDS virus in 1995.
Gray and his producing partners have chosen to lead with unknown actors for the key members of the band. While O’Shea Jackson Jr. is clearly the most famous amongst the crew, him being the real-life son of Ice Cube, most are in the infancy of their careers, all having their major debuts in this. The main three leads, Jackson as Cube, Jason Mitchell as Easy-E, and particularly Corey Hawkins as Dre, are virtually faultless in their respective roles. Jackson’s obvious resemblance to his father and his mannerisms on screen are uncanny, and the viewer forgets they are watching a dramatisation at certain points in the story, and are really seeing archive footage of Cube on-screen. Add on to this raw acting talent the gravitas of the legendary Paul Giamatti as N.W.A.’s manager Jerry Heller, and you’ve got a hell of cast that deliver some of the best ensemble performances of the year.
Straight Outta Compton review
Having hopelessly trying to avoid musical-puns throughout the review, I must now succumb to the temptation to say that Straight Outta Compton is near note-perfect. It is mesmerising from start to finish; the timeless beats bang, the story engrosses from the outset, and this new cast is virtually fault-less.
Gray has delivered a superb film, serving up a feast of nostalgia that will delight fans of the music genre and the band, as well as newcomers and non-members of the hip-hop church. The film’s final frames brilliantly sum up the influence this band has had on music in the last 25-plus years or so, and how its legacy is unparalleled.
Brutally honest, and still very relevant; perhaps more today than ever; Straight Outta Compton is not only one of the best biopics we’ve seen this year, but probably one of the best films we’ve seen this year.
Prepare yourself, you really are about to witness the strength of street knowledge.
Straight Outta Compton review by Paul Heath, August 2015.
Straight Outta Compton is released in UK cinemas on Friday 28th August, 2015.
