**Spoiler Warning**
*I will be using the Double Toasted rating system which consists of
1.Better Than Sex
2.Full Price
3.Matinee
4.Rental
5. Some Ole BS
6. F You
To begin, I just want to state that I tried my best to view this film in a non-biased manner. I grew up on this music, heck my friend Daryl used to wear his hair like Easy E for years. That being said, Straight Outta Compton is a timely, rich, and layered film of the kind of magnitude as Boyz In the Hood and Kids. I can easily see myself in Oshea Jackson’s (a.k.a Ice Cube) shoes, right from the beginning where he is sitting on the bus watching all the rich kids with their nice cars and simply dreaming of the day where he’ll be able to experience a better life. I have to marvel at the fact that while covering such serious material the film managed to have plenty of comedic moments. The scene where Easy E is trying to get on beat and record the classic song Boyz in the Hood had me in stiches. The first half is like you and your boys living the dream while spreading the important message of free speech and showing the world what life is like in the kind of neighborhoods that most people avoid. The second half is painful, the team splits up and life takes everyone in (sometimes) dangerous directions. I truly wish that NWA never split up because they were the dream team, they spoke the truth and even gave hope to generations of people who were stuck in bad neighborhoods.
The cinematography was beautiful, especially the scene in Detroit during NWA’s infamous performance. The passion that director F. Gary Gray brought to this project was obvious and in different hands this film could have been a disaster. The scenes of police brutality where very poignant and of course have much significance today. The Rodney King Riots scene was almost surreal and will stick with me for quite some time. All of the actors were phenomenal but the star to me was Jason Mitchell as Easy E. I have no idea why the man hasn’t been nominated for an Oscar but he more than deserves it. Just like in real life, all of the characters were rich and layered with both their good and bad sides showing. Half the time I couldn’t make up my mind about hating or understanding Jerry Heller( played by Paul Giamatti) who is sleazy but did truly care about Easy E to some extent. Also, seeing Suge Knight engaging in some of his rumored evil behavior was scary yet enlightening, I see why he is so feared in the rap community.
My only complains are that fact that the movie was cut down a bit( including some scenes that were shown in the trailer) and the second half does fall a bit in terms of story. I feel that they should have touched a bit more on the creation of Dr.Dre’s 1992 classic The Chronic but that is just a fanboy nitpick. Also, as someone who has lost a relative to HIV/AIDS the scenes with Easy E in the hospital were very emotional and had me tearing up a bit. Simply put it was a very well done scene. Overall, this Rose Event was great and I hope all my fellow scholars enjoyed the film as much as I did.
My Rating: I give this film a very enthusiastic Full Price
**For a far better worded review of this film and many others check out http://doubletoasted.com/**