Now Playing: STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
As is the case with most years, the 2015 summer movie season was dominated by big-budget blockbusters. Films such as MAD MAX:FURY ROAD, ANT-MAN, and MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION performed extremely well, while others like TERMINATOR: GENYSIS and THE FANTASTIC FOUR fell far below expectations. It would have been easy for any non-action, non-animated flick to get lost in the shuffle during this time of year, but the much-anticipated N.W.A biopic STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON found a way to thrive.
The film begins in 1986 and introduces us to Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkings) and Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) who are trying to find a way to keep their head above water while navigating the turbulent lifestyle of living in Compton. Eazy-E makes a living selling dope, while Dr. Dre and Ice Cube are desperately trying to make their musical careers take off.
Exceeding in talent but lacking in funds and opportunities, Dre speaks with Eazy-E in an attempt to get the entrepreneur to fund his endeavor.
Eazy-E takes the gamble, and agrees to fund an LP. With Dre as the producer and Cube as the lyricist, they have a song that they think could help them make their mark. Unfortunately, rap group HBO, who had been enlisted to make the actual recording, hates the lyrics and abandons ship. With few options at their disposal, Dre talks E into stepping behind the microphone. Despite not having any type of musical background prior to this fateful day, Eazy-E delivers the opening lines of “Boyz in the Hood” with a raw genuineness and fierce tenacity. It was in this studio that N.W.A. was born.
“Boyz in the Hood” explodes in LA and the sound immediately captures the attention of manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti) With the promise of fame and fortune, he gets Eric to convince the other members of the group that this is their chance to make it big. Though there is plenty of apprehension, when Jerry gets record exec Bryan Turner (Tate Ellington) to fund their debut album, N.W.A. finds it to be an offer that is impossible to refuse.
There have been plenty of wild stories over the years about the trials and tribulations that the group went through during their time together. What started as a groundbreaking experiment that brought an entirely new sound to an eager generation, dissolved into petite squabbles and full-blown beefs. Whether it is completely true or not, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON presents Heller as an antagonist who exploited the group by manipulating Eazy-E. His nefarious efforts are projected as the main cause of N.W.A.’s interpersonal woes. In addition, the group constantly had to fight to exercise their right to free speech, as their lyrics insinuated violence against the LAPD, and drew the ire of local agencies and the FBI alike.
The conflicts and battles that were an essential element of N.W.A.’s rise and fall are certainly interesting, but in the film, they often felt too melodramatic. The social stances taken by the group are legendary, but in COMPTON, these elements fail to rise above anything more than formulaic convention. In a time in America where tensions are running high and issues such as race and law enforcement are on the forefront of everyone’s minds, I was disappointed to see how these conflicts were projected on-screen. These sequences failed to have the same impact as say, HUSTLE & FLOW, and failed to delve deep into the heart of the issues. Instead, the film takes the simplistic stance that all cops are bad, and all managers (in the second half of the film Suge Knight becomes a major character) are money-grubbing con-men.
Though the drama was heavy-handed, this isn’t to say STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON isn’t fantastic and fun. The musical sequences, particularly the group’s live shows, are absolutely electric. Director F. Gary Gray mixed real recordings with performances of the cast to establish a genuine sound that perfectly captured the essence of N.W.A.
The performances by the entire cast are spectacular. It was no easy task to portray individuals who stood as ground-breaking pioneers, and it seemed especially difficult considering that many of the figures who appeared in the film are still relevant today. While each turn was impressive in its own right, it is impossible not to be enamored by the ability of O’Shea Jackson Jr. to play his father to perfection. The physical and vocal similarities are certainly astounding, but his performance was much more nuanced than that. It wasn’t as if he was given the role merely based on his lineage. In fact, Jackson. Jr. fought for years to earn his way onto the cast list, and even took acting lessons to hone his craft. The result is a debut performance that not only electrifies, but also adds authenticity to a production that has become the surprise smash of the summer.
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON: B
A special thanks goes to Regal Cinemas at Destiny USA for allowing me to attend this month’s film.
