Director: F. Gary
Gray
Writers: Jonathan Herman (screenplay) S. Leigh Savidge, Alan
Wenkus
Andrea Berloff
(story)
Seen: 30th August 2015
Venue: IMC Galway
Snacks: Quavers
Mood: Nostalgic
Straight Outta
Compton is a film about five guys who formed a
band called NWA (Niggas With Attitudes) in the 1980’s that arguably changed not
only the music scene but pop culture itself.
The story of NWA is
fascinating and remarkable there is no question of that and when you combine their
individual stories with the story of the band you gotta a pretty good film.
NWA
not only pioneered a whole new genre of music (Gangster Rap) but they also raised
awareness of the harsh realities of growing up in a place like South Central
Los Angeles. The L.A that NWA rapped about did not match the connotations that many
people had of Los Angeles California.
The reality of life
in L.A for them was a place of drugs, gangs and where violence
was as rampant as police brutality. They were slammed by critics at time for promoting
violence but they argued, and I agree with their sentiment, that “NWA was just
reflecting what was going on in their hood”. Undeniably there message was aggressive
and close to the nerve, but what is also undeniable is the facts.
South Central L.A
in the 80’s was one the gang/murder capitals of the world, it also had a drug
problem that was often cited by the media as a “crack epidemic”. Their message
about police brutality was also vindicated when the Rodney King tapes surfaced in
the early 90’s. The King incident highlighted the role of the police in the brutality that was going on for
a long time in places like Compton.
It’s also evident
that NWA’s legacy has longevity and the story of the band has still mass appeal
today. The box office is strong globally and little old Galway’s IMC was almost
full to capacity with a crowd made up mainly of young people - late teens early
20’s. Indeed it is probably due to the legacy of an original band member that
many of the young people where at the film. Andre Young aka Dr. Dre, has
produced many of the great rappers of
the 21st century including Snopp Dogg, 50 Cent, Kendrick Lamar and Eminem.
Straight Outta
Compton is certainly a finely directed and well-acted film especially O’Shea Jackson
Jr (who plays his father Ice Cube) Jason Mitchell (Eazy-E) and Corey Hawkins
(Dr. Dre). The director Gary Grey who
also made The Italian Job and of course the classic Friday did a brilliant job
in keeping the audience engaged in a story that spans over several years.
Nevertheless, I
think there is one major flaw with this film for me anyway, Ice Cube and Dre,
who both were producers on the film, come out looking pretty good compared to
other characters in the story of NWA specifically Jerry Heller (manager of NWA)
and Eazy- E. For those of you who like me are familiar with the NWA story, it
was not as simple as it was portrayed in Straight Outta Compton the film.
Nevertheless this is a well dissected examination of an unconventional band that had the balls
to fight the status quo of the time. I highly recommend Straight Outta Compton, although with a footnote, if you have no interest at all in rap music this might
not be for you.