Compton a movie with attitude
Tale of seminal rap group N.W.A crude, compelling, energetic
To the victors go the spoils. Except for Eric Wright/Eazy-E, the core members of the influential hip-hop group N.W.A prospered and, after fighting for respect as gangsta rappers, have moved into the mainstream of U.S. culture. So the music biopic Straight Outta Compton is their story, as shaped and supervised by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.
As a result, F. Gary Gray’s excellent film is as sympathetic as it is bombastic, even when it depicts some of the rough stuff, a lot of the stupid excesses that come with fame, and even some quasi-criminal activities.
Straight Outta Compton also depicts certain members of the Los Angeles Police Department as racist thugs who harass young black men, including the members of N.W.A, for no reason other than their age and the colour of their skin. The film also blames the Detroit police department for inciting the infamous riot at an N.W.A concert in that city because of controversy over the group’s abrasive song, F--- tha Police.
Compton, a city in Los Angeles County just south of downtown L.A., is notorious for its black and Hispanic gang violence. Yet none of the N.W.A members — except for Eazy-E, who sold drugs and used his profits to bankroll N.W.A and Ruthless Records in their formative years — were actually ever involved in the gangster world. At least, not as they are depicted here.
Gray’s film, which was co-produced by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre (among others), has a rough kinetic energy. It is sometimes hilarious, sometimes crude, often sophisticated, unfortunately sexist and always profane. Critically, it showcases the street-tough music and rap lyrics that made N.W.A so effective in shaping U.S. popular music in the 1980s.
It helps in the storytelling, of course, that the core members are dramatized so brilliantly. Jason Mitchell is a breakout performer as Eric Wright/Eazy-E, the charismatic co-founder who also destroyed the group through his shady business practices. Wright died of AIDS in 1995, mourned by his friends despite profound differences over money and power. Mitchell runs the gamut from juvenile bravado through cunning and into pathos. You “get” EazyE’s sensibilities.
The portrayal of O’Shea Jackson/ Ice Cube is equally interesting. He is played by O’Shea Jackson Jr., who does a splendid job of conjuring his father’s emotions as well as his looks. Having first encountered Ice Cube during the release of the nowlegendary gangsta movie Boyz n the Hood in 1991, it is uncanny how well Jackson Jr. brings out that same energy, intelligence and attitude of his father as a young man.
Corey Hawkins is the third pillar of strength as Andre Young/Dr. Dre. Not only does Hawkins look a lot like him, he has the acting chops to demonstrate why Dr. Dre was critical to the musical success of N.W.A, and why he was so conflicted inside the machinations of the group.
For the record, other key characters play into the saga, but N.W.A members Lorenzo Patterson/MC Ren (played by Aldis Hodge) and Antoine Carraby/DJ Yella (played by Neil Brown Jr.) are given short shrift. More critical are the portrayals of N.W.A’s first manager Jerry Heller (played by Paul Giamatti) as a scam artist, and also of Marion (Suge) Knight (played by R. Marcus Taylor) as a brutal thug who ran Death Row Records as a private club for deviants.
In the end, part of the N.W.A story is told — and told extremely well — yet this compelling saga is not over yet.