Fantastic movie, whether you're a fan of the music or not

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2017)

This is a movie which will grip you even if you're not a big fan of rap pioneers NWA, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, and Snoop Dogg. If you are a fan, you'll probably be in heaven. Either way, I highly recommend this movie, which has it all: great acting, a compelling story, riveting direction, and most importantly, honesty.
It doesn't make excuses, but at the same time, you see the genesis for NWA's incendiary lyrics: blatant racism and brutality by the LAPD at the direction of Daryl Gates, vast economic disparity relative to other citizens of LA, and an environment of gang violence. Can you imagine being held at gunpoint by thugs entering your school bus because you had made a few gestures at them out your window? Being forced to the ground with hands behind your back by the police for no other reason than the color of your skin?
You also see NWA's defense so eloquently put by Ice Cube (well, his son, O'Shea Jackson, Jr., who plays him brilliantly): they were simply reflecting their world, honestly, and were also protected by the First Amendment. There isn't a lot of visibility put into the misogynistic lyrics of the genre and these artists, but it is clear that they were young men acting out, and when we see the older Cube a family man, sagely reflecting back on a video he made was younger, we appreciate that. We tend to have barriers and stereotypes built up, demonizing others we don't understand particularly when they confront and challenge the status quo, and this movie really helps break those down. At the same time, the attitude and actions against women were the areas that I felt the artists got too much of a pass, and a perfectly honest movie would have included those elements.
I liked seeing all of the personalities in what was a very special time in music history, similar to when McCartney met Lennon or Jagger met Richards. Fans of those bands, calm down, I'm not suggesting NWA reached the heights of the Beatles or Stones, but what an incredible influence they had on an entire genre from the crucible that was Compton in the 80's. You see the fiery lyrics of Ice Cube, the visionary genius of Dr. Dre, and the tragic story of Eazy-E. Corey Hawkins plays Dre and Jason Mitchell plays Eazy-E, and both are fantastic. You see great nuance in the character of the band's manager Paul Heller, played by Paul Giamatti, who advocates for them and advances them, but also ultimately screws them. You see the jealousies between the band members lead to a schism. You see Snoop Dogg (Keith Stanfield) arrive on the scene, and you see a real villain in Suge Knight (R. Marcos Taylor), who at first seems to be helping them get out of a situation in which they're being taken advantage of, but quickly does that himself, and in addition, exercise extreme violence in asserting his power. The quality of the acting is consistently high. The story itself is fascinating, and Director F. Gary Gray did a great job of figuring out what to leave in and what to leave out. Even though it's 147 minutes, which is long, you'll find it flies by and doesn't seem long, which is the sign of a great story-teller. It's quite surprising that none of these fine actors, the director, or the movie itself were even nominated for an Oscar, and quite right that that fact was widely protested. Definitely go see this movie.