It's also as topical as today's headlines. A generation ago, the police harrassment that was common in inner-city Los Angeles inspired Ice Cube and the other members of N.W.A. to write incendiary songs about their experiences. Those songs -- most famously "F.T.P." -- sparked a political backlash and a crackdown on what was called gangsta rap. The riots that followed the Rodney King verdict in 1992 came just as N.W.A. had peaked.
What happened to King was an extreme example of what N.W.A. had been rapping about; the kind of police brutality that, according to the movie, they had experienced all their lives. They spoke up about it and established a platform for others to do the same, at some risk and with great rewards for those who survived.
Now Ice Cube and Dr. Dre are in position to control their origin story. They've produced a movie that shows how a group of talented, ambitious kids pushed a new path to success through hard work, luck, and timing. There were some casualties along the way and for personal and legal reasons much is left offscreen. Cube and Dre are multimillionaires, entertainment moguls who aren't about to include incidents of violence against women, anti-Semitism, and what really went down with Suge Knight and Death Row Records, to name three obvious examples.
"Straight Outta Compton" starts with a bang -- a drug raid that almost snares Eric "Easy-E" Wright -- and quickly establishes his character, a charismatic, risk-taking hustler. His principal bandmates are introduced: Dre as the dreamy music-head and master producer, Cube the angry, engaged lyricist. Their skills blended quickly -- there's a funny scene where Dre teaches the more rhythmically challenged Easy-E to rap on the beat -- and they soon acquire a veteran manager, Jerry Heller, who stands up for them against the cops ("these are artists") and gets them a record deal. In short order N.W.A. is a national sensation, filling stadiums on a national tour and arousing the wrath of the F.B.I. and local cops.
These early scenes sizzle with energy. Director F. Gary Gray frames most everything front and center and knows from his extensive music video experience how to make a song pop onscreen. His lively young cast is up to the challenge, particularly O'Shea Jackson Jr., who has an uncanny physical resemblance to his father, Ice Cube, and has the same edgy swagger. Jason Mitchell, an inexperienced actor when he was cast as Easy-E, is even better, deftly handling a range of emotions in a complicated character. Corey Hawkins, Juillard-trained and Broadway-experienced, is a little stiff as Dre, unable to (or maybe prohibited from) exploring the contradictions in such a brilliant, deeply flawed man.
Once Cube leaves N.W.A. in a dispute over royalties, the air slowly leaks out of "Straight Outta Compton." There are lots and lots of arguments about money between two sides: Easy-E/Heller vs. everyone else. Then that falls apart. The other members -- DJ Yella, MC Ren -- are supporting players. Paul Giamatti pulls out all the stops as Heller, whose involvement with N.W.A. is not as interesting as the filmmakers think it is. Dre's time at Death Row and his work with Knight, Tupac, and Snoop Dogg is breezed through and shows him in the best possible light.
N.W.A. was the most influential group in rap history. It wasn't built to last, and it didn't. In less than five years it produced three albums and a handful of singles but its influence on popular music and culture remains strong. "Straight Outta Compton" is sure to extend that influence and extend the brand of the band and its founders.
Straight Outta Compton Trailer
"Straight Outta Compton"
Grade: B
Rating: R
Running time: 147 minutes
Playing at: Opens Thursday, Aug. 13, for evening previews; everywhere on Friday, Aug. 14.
Cast and crew: O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Neil Brown Jr., Aldis Hodge, Marlon Yates Jr., Paul Giamatti. Written by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff. Directed by F. Gary Gray.
The lowdown: A biopic about the rise and fall of N.W.A. with a strong young cast is thrilling in its early scenes but goes on way too long.
-- Jeff Baker
jbaker@oregonian.com
503-221-8165
@oregonianbooks
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