Great film

Rating: 9/10 (14 April 2016)

If you want to see a film that give you a tiny bit of insight in the start of one of the most important hip hop groups, this is a must see. The challenge is of course to be able to represent all different artists and their background, and some things feel it barely scratching the surface of some interesting details. But it does focus on some really important things like showing what actual role each artist brought to the table, and important events which manages to actually convey the feeling so well that you are grabbed and taken on a musical revolution. The portrayal of race and gender has more nuance than might meet the eye at the first glance. Of course, some people with a narrow view will say that the N.W.A. members are portrayed as violent thugs with no respect for rules and people. This is however a story about young men from areas where you probably don't even let yourself dream of a tenth of what N.W.A. accomplished, and you also neglect to understand the reality of black people. Really, white people are not subject to the same treatment as black people. The gender representation is actually pretty OK, the main characters are the men in N.W.A. and of course you could wish to see more women in the film. Straight Outta Compton does manage to show anything from the character Felisha, who is represented as an object to Dr. Dre's mother who is a working independent woman that try to raise her sons well, and Eazy E's wife who is the one that gets to have the traditional logical male quality of logic while Eazy E has the passion.
In short, Straight Outta Compton is a really well made try rags to riches film with music and real anger at it's core. See it if you want the basics about N.W.A, then find their discographies and individual biographies. Enjoy.