7/10

Rating: 7/10 (2 October 2015)

I will admit fully up front my total, absolute, 100% ignorance about the events, the people, the context and the music portrayed in this film. It just isn't something that I ever heard or grew up on, living in Italy. Nevetheless I was actually looking forward to checking this out and understanding what this whole story was all about. Even though I cannot comment about the way the facts are portrayed I can call this a well crafted movie.
F Gary Gray does a very good job in making you part of this world, making you understand how things work and ultimately he simply tells an interesting true story and does it justice, taking out of it themes that everyone can relate to and showing a reality with complex dynamics which offer a great cue of thought and discussion. Even though the events in the film may be unfamiliar to the viewer he presents them with confidence and knowledge and makes them familiar and easily understandable. There is lots of commentary on society and discrimination, much of it comes to fruition even though I might add that I never had a full three dimensional dynamic of it.
All in all what really makes the film succeed is the fact that it has interesting characters in an interesting true story which is never shoved down your throat, you are treated respectfully, the story is told with passion. You won't get bored, you board the ride and you are taken through a satisfying, reflective and interesting journey which makes you come out with the feeling you just saw a good movie with some killer music that pumped all the more goodness in the film.
I just unfortunately can't get too excited about this. Firstly because from a filmaking point of view there isn't anything outstanding or flattering, there aren't stand out performances, or intense, breathless scenes. But that is OK, the movie is still very good. The main point is the fact that a little too many of its emotional beats and story beats require you to be familiar with the events to get emotional or excited. It doesn't explore its themes as much as it explores its story and that is way I was never fully engaged by it, other than the fact that it is a tad to long.
I will repeat the fact that my ignorance in the subject doesn't make me a valid judge for the film which is a good, sometimes very good biopic/muscipic, but I think that a slight edge more of attention to the themes and the issues it raises could have elevated the film a lot.