WASHINGTON 鈥� Once upon a time, Black America聽accused police of聽brutality fueled by racial profiling. White America worried that upstanding officers聽were聽being slandered by a few bad apples. And good hearts on both sides watched in shock as entire cities were burned to the ground by riots.
N.W.A. was born in聽1988, in the run-up to Rodney King and the L.A. Riots, and the 2015 movie about their rise arrives聽in the aftermath of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner and聽Freddie Gray, as聽racial fires still burn from Brooklyn to Ferguson, Baltimore to Charleston.
That’s聽the powerful timing of聽“Straight Outta Compton,” an urgent work with a surprising amount of social relevancy for a tale 30 years in the making.
The film opens in 1987 with the young-adult angst of聽Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson Jr.), Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), MC Ren (Aldis Hodge) and Dj Yella (Neil Brown Jr.), who combine to form the rap group N.W.A. in Compton, Los Angeles under the management of Ruthless Records founder Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti). The group is immediately controversial, thanks to聽an聽unprecedented聽swagger and refusal to mince words, hitting聽back hard against social and聽economic injustices, while bringing warnings from the FBI and聽discomfort from Middle America.
The film opens with a line from the title song, which is less of a song lyric as it is a promise:聽“You’re about to witness the聽strength of street knowledge.”聽Director F. Gary Gray provides just that.
After getting his聽start directing rap videos, including Ice Cube’s “It Was a Good Day,” Gray made his directorial film debut with the hit comedy “Friday” (1995). From there, he rattled off solid efforts in “The Negotiator” (1998), the remake of “The Italian Job” (2003) and “Law Abiding Citizen” (2009).
Now, it’s safe to say that “Straight Outta Compton” is his most fully realized effort yet.
The film’s biggest strength is its spot-on casting, compiled聽by casting director Cindy Tolan (“Blue Valentine,” “The Place Beyond the Pines”). We’re given license to get lost in the movie because the on-screen players feel almost identical to their real-life counterparts, particularly Ice Cube’s real-life son, who masters his fathers facial expressions. While Jackson Jr. is a spitting image of Cube, Hawkins brings to life the聽record-spinning genius of Dre, while Mitchell steals the show as Eazy-E, projecting聽an admirable — if misguided —聽loyalty to the man who gave him his big break.
There are also commendably believable bit portrayals of 2Pac and聽Snoop Dogg by Marcc Rose and Keith Stanfield, respectively. You’ll remember聽Stanfield as both the rapping teen Marcus in聽“Short Term 12” (2013) and Jimmie Lee Jackson in “Selma”聽(2014). You won’t remember Rose from anything, plucked from obscurity because he looks and sounds exactly like Pac singing “Hail Mary.”
At times, the movie is guilty of too much name dropping, giving us everyone from聽Suge Knight to The D.O.C. to Warren G. By the same token, it almost tries to cover too much ground, starting with the N.W.A. boys meeting in 1987 and going all the way to Dre leaving Knight’s Death Row Records to form his own company, Aftermath, in 1996. “Compton” dangerously charts a聽similar path as聽“The Butler,”聽covering a wide chronology, as opposed to “Selma,” which focused on a specific slice.
It’s also guilty of barely exploring subplots involving the rappers’ relatives. Mothers, brothers and lovers are all routinely introduced but given only lip service. Perhaps these family members聽were included to please co-producers Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, proving that real-life celebrities shouldn’t have a hand in making a聽movie about themselves.聽Rather than story beats, we get “Beats by Dre.”
There are plenty of things聽to nitpick by聽critics actively looking for flaws 鈥� the biggest being the misogyny of a聽punchline that comes at the expense of a woman at a hotel sex party 鈥� but each of these flaws is countered with a hard dose of reality. Sure we聽see聽Eazy-E bragging about his promiscuity,聽but we then聽see him聽paying the consequences with his much-publicized AIDS diagnosis.
Before throwing rocks at the movie based on one specific scene, withhold judgment and consider what the film is trying to say in its entirety. This advice is most important during the film’s handling of its most controversial subject: police brutality. We see the daily聽harassment聽that caused聽the group to sing “F 鈥� k the Police,” just as we see Dre driving through the L.A. Riots in slow motion, surveying the burning city and sharing a solemn glance with the police chief, wondering if it all was worth it.
The fact that Gray even has the courage to wade into this聽topic is not only commendable, it’s necessary.聽Surely, the film聽won’t win converts from those who think “F 鈥� k the Police” went too far.聽All Gray聽is doing is asking us to do is listen, think and somehow come out wiser on the other聽side.
Gray presents聽shades of gray. No聽issue is black and white 鈥� especially issues of black and white. Time and again, we’ve seen bad situations made worse by inflammatory actions, either by the聽聽of folks聽blind to their own privilege, or by聽slogan-driven activists.
So let’s stop inflaming and start listening. Let’s stop name calling and start healing. There are real concerns here, rooted in聽actual聽grievances built up over the decades, clouded further by聽reverse resentments and mankind’s dangerous flaw of territoriality.聽We can’t wash all of this聽away overnight with one movie, but surely there are some聽common ideas we can all agree upon as a starting point:
Can’t we agree that racism still exists in many forms 鈥� from the personal to the societal?
Can’t we agree that not all cops are bad 鈥� that most are decent, hardworking Americans?
Can’t we agree that the democratizing power of a cellphone camera is a good thing 鈥� and that putting body cameras on police officers is a good way to end the聽“he said, she said”聽disputes?
Can’t we agree that peaceful protests are far聽more constructive than burning down mom-and-pop stores run by our own hardworking neighbors 鈥� often people of color聽themselves?
Can’t we agree that mass shootings are a national disgrace in dire need of a better system聽to keep military-style weapons聽out of the hands of聽convicted criminals and the mentally ill?
Can’t we agree that day-to-day gun violence 鈥� from backwoods disputes to drive-bys in city streets 鈥� should receive equal attention and moral outrage as聽the mass shootings?
Can’t we agree on the聽amazing grace of Charleston victims’ families saying, “I forgive you” to the gunman, revealing the beautiful irony that聽this deranged goal of a聽race-war backfired into love?
And once and for all, can’t we agree that our pop culture 鈥� from movies to music 鈥� should become smarter, favoring聽social commentary over聽materialistic and misogynistic glorification, creating art that’s less vulgar and less violent, art that we聽can be聽proud to show our grandkids 鈥� just as聽our ancestors聽proudly聽showed us Marvin Gaye, Sam Cooke,聽Jackie Wilson and Stevie Wonder?
Our culture is stronger when聽a genre’s brightest talents聽aren’t gunned down in coast-to-coast gang wars.聽Here’s hoping we bend the curve of history closer聽toward聽“Keep Ya Head Up” and further away from聽“Hit Em Up.”聽We aren’t聽beholden to our past. There is always a better way forward. But in order to聽move forward, we must assess聽what got us here. “Compton” does this urgently and聽thoughtfully.
It may not change cinema the way the song changed music 鈥� paling in comparison to masterpieces like聽Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing” (1989) and John Singleton’s “Boyz n the Hood” (1991) — but it’s a 2 1/2 hour epic that never once loses our attention. As we watch N.W.A. catch fire, roar to success and flame out, leaving a聽legacy of聽influence revealed in the end credits, “Compton”聽surpasses the semi-autobiographical “8 Mile” and the lackluster “Notorious” to become the聽best rap biopic ever made. Sure, that’s a聽big fish in a small pond, but in this聽genre, “fish is our favorite dish.”
鈽� 鈽� 鈽� 1/2
The above rating is based on a 4-star scale. See where the film ranks in our聽. Follow 小萝莉影视 Film Critic Jason Fraley on Twitter .
