FILM REVIEW: Straight Outta Compton

Straight Outta Compton

147 mins

Director: F. Gary Gray

Starring: O’Shea Jackson Jr, Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell

Three stars

The film chronicles the rise, rise, and some falls of the world’s most famous rap group, NWA who emerged from the tough streets of Compton in Los Angeles in 1987.

The group came together to channel their frustrations about growing up in one of the most dangerous places in America and the prejudice they faced as young black men.

They were pioneers of the gangsta rap genre and their first album, Straight Outta Compton, is still regarded as one of the most important albums of all time.

The film concentrates on three of the five founding members, rappers Eazy-E, Ice Cube and producer Dr Dre.

Drug dealer Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell) is persuaded by Dre (Corey Hawkins) to begin rapping when another group he is producing refuses to rap Ice Cube’s (O’Shea Jackson Jr) lyrics.

O’Shea Jackson Jr portrays his father in the film and is his screen debut, a fact I only discovered after watching the film and wondering how they had managed to find an actor who looked so much like Ice Cube.

Director F. Gary Gray also directed the real Ice Cube in the film Friday in 1995.

Ice Cube is portrayed as the brains behind the lyrics, and Dre as the smartest producer going.

Often the film felt like a PR machine for Dre, who coincidentally is one of the film’s producers as well as Ice Cube, as he never puts a foot wrong.

Real-life seems to have been skewed to fit his agenda as Dre is seen in the film visiting Eazy-E in hospital before he died of Aids in 1995 and reconciling after a feud over royalties.