Straight Outta Compton (2015)
Certified: 15
Duration: 147 minutes
Directed by: F. Gary Gray
Starring: O’Shea Jackson, Jr, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Aldis Hodge, Neil Brown, Jr, Paul Giamatti, Marlon Yates Jr, Corey Reynolds, Nate Ellington, Alexandra Shipp, Angela Elayne Gibbs, Bruce Beatty, Lisa Renee Pitts, Keith Stanfield, R. Marcus Taylor, Sheldon A. Smith
KRS Releasing Ltd
Set in the 1980s, Straight Outta Compton re tells the story of hip hop band NWA, which takes place in the dangerous streets of Compton in Los Angeles, California.
The band initially consists of three men: talented rapper Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr); Dr Dre (Corey Hawkins), an unemployed teenage father who dreams of becoming a record producer; and Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), a drug dealer who sees Dr Dre’s Ruthless Records as a way out of the crime world.
The release of their single Boyz N the Hood transforms NWA into a bona fide hit. Nonetheless, the band is not entirely complete until Mc Ren (Aldis Hodge), DJ Yella (Neil Brown, Jr) and Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti), a record manager who is impressed with the band’s sound and attitude, enter the scene.
Success, however, is short-lived. Ice Cube leaves the band in hopes of becoming a solo artist and try his luck in the movie industry, while Dr Dre leaves the band to form Death Row Records, and later becomes the producer of choice for music icons like Snoop Doggy Dogg and Tupac Shakur.
Straight Outta Compton transports us back in time to a burgeoning scene where gang tension was the order of the day. It takes viewers backstage to get embroiled in the clashes, ego stroking and lawyer-tugging that gives the music business its bad name.
The film has a flair for storytelling, making it one of the best recent bio-pictures to make it to the screen.
The cast has been assembled in a very convincing way. Case in point: Jackson Jr, son of Ice Cube, plays his father, thereby blurring the line between reality and fiction. Hawkins and Mitchell bring Dr Dre and Eazy-E to the screen in pulsating mode, while Giamatti’s portrayal of the sleazy Jerry Heller is very much in the loop.
Overall, Straight Outta Compton is shot in an authentic fashion. Gray delivers a well-structured and realistic movie characterised by chaos and dissension but which is nonetheless laced with creativity.