Review for Straight Outta Compton

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2016)

Anyone that has listened to rap music in the last few decades has heard of the group N.W.A, but not every one knows their story and the impact they have had in the music industry. The film Straight Outta Compton shows the rise and fall of the infamous rap group. The movie starts out introducing us to each of the five members one by one, and shows us how they came to form the rap group, N.W.A. The first person introduced is one of the three main central figures, Eric Wright, a.k.a. "Eazy E". Wright is portrayed by actor Jason Mitchell who gives a great performance. O'Shea Jackson, jr. the real life son of "Ice Cube" plays his father in the movie. He does a good job not only looking like him, but also with his voice and mannerisms. The third main member is "Dr. Dre" played by Corey Hawkins. While he bares a similar resemblance to the real Dr. Dre, he managed to play him with a lot of compassion and drive as a person. All of these actors do a great job interacting with each other and brings a realistic feel to the movie. The other two members of the group, MC Ren and DJ Yella are given little screen time and character development, probably because they are the least known members of the group.
Some other notable performances are from the actor that portrays Suge Knight. Known as a threatening person, the way Knight is written in the movie comes off very looming and menacing, captured well by the actor that plays him. The audience really feels like this guy will kill anyone for anything and is ruthless. Small cameos are made by actors playing Snoop Dogg and Tupac, both of which did well with what they were given. The last main character is the manager of N.W.A, Jerry Heller, played by the talented Paul Giamatti, who gives a solid performance. Playing the caring yet manipulative manager, who claims that every thing he did was "just a part of the business". The character runs a fine line of being a caring person towards Eric and a sleazy business man.
The first half of the movie plays out like a straight drama narrative building to the formation of the group, depicting their life struggles as well as run ins with gangsters and the police. As the movie progresses it becomes more about showing the major events that occurred starting with the concert riot in Detroit. From there most of the events shown were basic media covered incidents, that is publicly known. Such as Ice Cude and Dr. Dre leaving the group and starting their solo careers. The ending of course comes with the death of rapper Eazy-E, which played out well and was very emotional. This is one of the better music biopics made, while some liberties were taken, not everything is 100% accurate and many smaller details left out, it is still a solid story narrative.
For the most part the pace of the film is good. The first act moves along well, while there is a bit of a stumble later in the movie but it never drags along. At a length of 147 minutes, the movie is so engaging that the time flies and next thing you know the movie ends. By the time the movie is over, you are left wanting to know more of what happened next with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. Not only is the pacing well, but the movie is shot well and has very nice cinematography, that draws you into the world that these characters live in.
There are several good comedic moments that help lighten the movie and allows the audience to be entertain in more than just the dramatic scenes. The movie also does not down play the way African Americans were treated by the police, and how that inspired the graphic lyrics to some of the groups most popular songs. This is a well directed, well shot and well acted biopic that deserves the recognition and acclaim it has earned. The original running time was over three hours long and could have easily been made into television miniseries. Hopefully when it is released, it will include the extra footage. Overall this is a very good movie and character study based, on true events that left a mark in popular American culture.