Straight Outta Compton
I'm a huge fan of old school rap. TuPac, Nas, Biggie- yeah, just the popular stuff- and of course Ice Cube, Eazy E and the rest of NWA. They revolutionized rap and changed music forever in the late 80s, so of course they'd be a prime candidate for a biopic outlining their story. And since I'm throwing around ideas for a biopic screenplay myself, I thought this would be an informative and entertaining watch.
Straight Outta Compton was put together by a very particular group of very involved people. It was produced by Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, two members of the band, as well as a late third member’s wife. It was directed by F. Gary Gray, who's worked with Ice Cube plenty of times and was absolutely hand-picked by him, and it even stars O’Shea Jackson Jr., Ice Cube’s real life son, playing his father. All this is presumably meant to create a passionate and authentic experience as accurate to real life as possible, but seeing as there is a tab on this film’s Wikipedia page called ‘Historical Accuracy’, I’d have really loved to see another crew’s take on this story. Don’t get me wrong, F. Gary Gray was a stupendous choice, and his unique vision really came through, but I feel like a more balanced take could have allowed the individual’s personalities, triumphs and pitfalls to shine more authentically. More will be discussed in a bit, but, for example, would the film’s credits still have been a love letter and barrage of praise discussing the band’s influence and impact if it hadn’t essentially been put together by the band itself? I’d say yes, given their track record, but again, I’d like to see a pass from someone more neutral.
Despite this, Straight Outta Compton is a great movie. One of its strongest suits is an extremely simple one: I just love seeing the guys hang out, laugh and record together, and while I wish there was a little more of it, I understand that it’s the scarcity of these calm and joyful moments in the midst of tense and dramatic sequences that make them stick out more. The five members’ goofiness made me chuckle many times, and in a story about the tragic downfall of friendships becoming feuds and an iconic band breaking apart, you need to show the friendship and camaraderie first, and the more realistic that camaraderie is, the more airtight the illusion becomes.
My favorite individual scene, however, was the extremely tense and edge-of-your-seat interrogation from the police officers outside the recording studio. It’s gritty, mean and all too realistic, and felt like anything could have happened. White officers approaching or detaining innocent Black civilians, as proven in Get Out, will always be scary for obvious reasons, and the slow trot of shame back inside from the band members was equally nail-biting. I’m not sure how I feel about one of the police officers being Black, though. That was kinda confusing, and I don’t know if it helped the message or muddled it.
Music-wise? Come on. Let’s just skip this part. It’s incredible. Enough said.
Performances in biopics where the actors are playing real people, especially celebrities and most especially modern celebrities that people remember well, are always going to be scrutinized on an extremely high level. Fortunately, F. Gary Gray extracts some exceptional showcases here. The standout is O’Shea Jackson Jr., who brings the house down. He looks and sounds exactly like his father, elevating the sense of accuracy and realism, and turns in an extremely fine-tuned and emotional performance. Paul Giamatti’s is also amazing, as you can really see the fine line he threads between father figure and villain. Unfortunately, though, not every portrayal is perfect, and I have specific critiques on the voices. Eazy E and Dre’s voices are extremely off, which is a bummer for Eazy in particular, since he had one of the most unique and recognizable voices in rap at the time. Jason Mitchell sounds nothing like him, and the same can be said for Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre. The problem is multiplied by the fact that while some new vocals were recorded by the new actors, a sizable chunk of this movie’s music is lip syncing with the real life recordings from the actual musicians, leading to a huge disconnect between the performers’ speaking and singing voices. It’s pretty jarring, actually- all except for O’Shea, of course.
Undoubtedly the most controversial and contested part of Straight Outta Compton, however, is its lack of historical accuracy and omissions of important aspects of the band’s life. Arabian Prince, despite being a founding member, is reduced to an uncredited cameo. Dre and Eazy’s iconic feud and their attacks “Dre Day” and “Real Muthaphuckkin’ G’s” (the latter of which is one of the greatest diss tracks of all time) are completely absent, despite their presence possibly making the reunion of Dre and Eazy much more emotional. Worst of all, though, is the making of Dr. Dre into a hero instead of exploring his darker and more troublesome sides- he did some not okay stuff to the women in his life, which is not portrayed at all in exchange for making him some misunderstood heroic underdog. Even Dre’s ex-wife spoke out about the mistreatment of her character. DJ Alonzo Williams called this film “a great fusion of fantasy and reality”, but it felt like huge interventions were being made to rewrite history and sanitize and tidy a film ironically about revolt and fighting the power.
Straight Outta Compton is a triumph and a must watch for any fans of rap, although that “watch” must be taken with an enormous grain of salt already prepared. Sacrificing accuracy and authenticity for powerhouse performances, style, and thoughtful commentary, it’s a fair trade- I had originally written “more than a fair trade”, but every passing day after my freshman viewing has led to a little more and more praise disappearing from me. It’s still a confident, stylish, sonically brilliant and energetic emotional rollercoaster, though, and is one of the best biopics I’ve ever seen, leaving me with inspiration in my heart for my next steps.
