Straight Outta Compton

"Our art is a reflection of our reality. You open your front door and what do you see?"

A typical middle-class LA/Southern Californian high school day ends and the African-American students board the buses. One, O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson (O'Shea Jackson Jr.) takes a break from writing lyrics to wistfully gaze out the window at the Anglo-American teens hopping in their sports cars together and driving themselves home. Cube's bus leaves the school, leaves the suburbs and soon crosses from tree-lined roads into a graffiti-ridden industrial area towards the Housing Commission-style neighbourhood of Compton. Along the way a pair of teens throw light joking jabs and gang signs at a passing car full of young men, men who suddenly force the bus to stop, board it and threaten the teens with guns while giving a "motivational speech" that's actually a very thinly veiled threat. Ice Cube recounts this incident shortly after at his friends house where his mate  Andre "Dr, Dre" Young (Corey Hawkins) has just moved in to with his young wife and infant daughter further crowding a small house, and they spend the afternoon laughing and creating music. Ice Cube leaves and is immediately confronted road-side by an LAPD patrol already in the process of arresting another African-American man. Cube is accosted and manhandled by the police and when his parents try to intervene, they too are held back with aggressive dialogue and threats of force from the police. This is the reality of Compton, LA, of the film Straight Outta Compton, the reality that birthed N.W.A ("Niggaz Wit Attitudes), a gangster-rap group from the crime-ridden neighbourhood, a group that was perceived to bring gang violence and culture to America's youth and profit from it.

F. Gary Gray's film has undoubtedly been released in a near-perfect moment in terms of marketing and cultural impact, with the horrific interactions between African-Americans and the Police in the US only getting worse, and the film's trailers have invested heavily in it. And, perhaps intentionally, that's not what the Straight Outta Compton film is about. The film follows the rise and demise of the band, from local zeroes, to heroes, to business and entertainment moguls. The film primarily follows the course of Dr Dre, Ice Cube and Eric "Eazy-E" Wright (Jason Mitchell), arguably the greater contributors to NWA, though MC Ren and DJ Yella are also represented but often relegated to being in the background. The film evolves from following these seemingly non-gang affiliated men be brutally honest about the experiences of their life to the territorial nature of the gangland following them into the recording studios and business as a whole. The trailers infer the band's voice having particular impact during the L.A Riots in the wake of the Rodney King bashing, and while this does seem to resonate with the characters within the film, it has little to do with the overall plot. 

                             "When Tyree died you said we'd always be brothers!"

Straight Outta Compton falters where most biopics of prolific and controversial persons/groups do, especially when the members are invested in the production and marketing of the film. It's dragged down by overly-sympathetic characters, direct and manipulative dialogue and portrayals, and a deluge of cameo's and events that come across more as a highlight reel rather than cinematic narrative. Dr Dre is portrayed as the classic hungry, misunderstood, suffering artist who's quest for artistic purity is being constantly undermined by inconveniences such as his wife and children and his family's poverty. Conflicts and personality flaws that would usually create a more three-dimensional character are omitted to satisfy this image of Dre, which in some ways has been addressed during the promo tour for the film. Ice Cube is treated as the talent and genius that the band cannot exist without, with a full scene devoted to NWA and their manager being left speechless after hearing his insult track "No Vaseline" and repeated lines of dialogue referencing how MC Ren is unable to fill Ice Cube's role with the same power or ability after he split from the group in 1989. Eazy-E as the heart and soul of the group who is constantly being manipulated by others and is portrayed tragically from the start, often his pride and gangster attitude (the source of his success) being instrumental in his conflicts with others, however this is seemingly the most honest portrayal in the film. 

Besides the recording of the eponymous album, many events of the film appear to do little more than pad out soundtracks and cameo's, such as appearances by Snoop Dogg (Keith Stanfield) who just wonders up to Dre at one stage and they instantly create "Nuthin' But a G Thang", or walking into a Death Row Records studio to hear Tupac Shakur in the middle of recording "California Love". The second ninety minutes of the film truly falls into typical biopic territory with a never-ending parade of references and cameos punctuated by hit songs that surrounded the members of N.W.A. The film employs forced and cliched movie dialogue and a manipulative film score (outside of the soundtrack that drives the film) that undercuts emotionally significant moments in the lives of otherwise aggressively real and brutal hip-hop/rap artists perhaps reinforcing the fales-ness of cinematic biopics and their capacity to omit information and create significant bias, or maybe it's just bad writing. And finally, the portrayal of women in the eyes of N.W.A has long been criticised but this film could have its own Every Single Word Spoken By...video for its female characters, who when they do appear are usually some kind of decoration. In a major film made in 2015, it's undeniable, blatant and frankly disgusting, regardless of whatever truth there is behind it and there's never any explanation or reason for it besides excess and greed.

In spite of all these issues, Straight Outta Compton is an experience worth investing in even with a two hour and thirty minute runtime. The performances are excellent, and the idea behind O'Shea Jackson Jr. playing his dad is amazing and works. Gray often uses handheld and steadicam shots that flow throughout small rooms full of people to great effect, and the constant militaristic threat of the police is both terrifying and brilliant, invoking the fear of a villain in a slasher film. The concert scenes are infectious and the first hour especially has a wonderful social power to it. It establishes these characters well, their visions clearly and the problems they face, and through it all there's a great soundtrack that keeps things in moving forward, often helping to mask the edits that cut an hour off the film's original runtime. Overall, Compton has the same problems as any other biopic, but has landed at a perfect moment, and with it's strong performances, excellent soundtrack and cultural relevance, it's worth the time investment.