For a Way Out of Their Troubled Community, Aspiring Artists Turn to Their Musical Talents

From left: Corey Hawkins, O'Shea Jackson, Jr., and Jason Mitchell
in "Straight Outta Compton"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com 

This summer movie season has had its share of films that deal with vocalists and musicians.  There was the a cappella comedy, “Pitch Perfect 2”; “Love and Mercy,” a biopic which focused on Beach Boys cofounder Brian Wilson; and the Amy Winehouse documentary, “Amy.”  Now, director F. Gary Gray brings us “Straight Outta Compton,” a detailed chronicle of the trailblazing hip-hop group, N.W.A.

In 1986 Compton, California, Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.), MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), and DJ Yella (Neil Brown, Jr.) escape the day-to-day difficulties of their neighborhood by creating music and performing for local audiences, and their group, N.W.A., soon goes under Eazy-E’s new label, Ruthless Records.  After the popularity of their first single, “Boyz-n-the-Hood,” the group attracts the attention of music manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti), who is then appointed as N.W.A.’s manager.  As the group becomes more successful, tension begins to rise among its members that threatens to ruin everything they have worked for.

Although Jackson, Hawkins, and Mitchell didn’t have much acting experience before this film, they all exhibit unfaltering chemistry between their characters.  Through their dramatic scenes and stage-performance sequences, these three actors help to provide the film with a great deal of its power.  Seeing as three relatively unknown actors are cast in the leads, that makes their performances a lot more effective because there’s the feeling of movie audiences becoming acquainted with the acting abilities of these performers, similar to people becoming acquainted with the talents of N.W.A. in the ‘80s.  Although Hawkins’ acting could have been a bit more emotional during a tragic scene involving his character’s brother, the acting is still superb all around.

I never knew much of N.W.A.’s story before seeing the movie, but the screenplay by Jonathan Herman and Andrea Berloff offers plenty of depth in terms of the career and lifestyle of N.W.A.’s members.  The narrative shows the neighborhood experiences of the group, so when we listen to their music, we are given a much deeper understanding of the stories within their lyrics because of what we see these characters go through before they reach stardom.  From scenes depicting N.W.A.’s rise to success, to dynamic concert scenes, to the drama that rises among the members of N.W.A., Herman and Berloff offer a rich and interesting account of this prominent hip-hop group.

One of the strongest parts of the screenplay is how it shows the damage that can be done to a group of artists when they have conflicting views about the direction in which their careers should go, which is seen when N.W.A. breaks up.  In this portion of the film, we see the members exploring their own projects, collaborating with others, and recording songs that are aimed to badmouth each other.  It adds a considerable amount of drama to the story because of how we see these artists go from using their music to succeed as a group, to using it to get back at one another. 

Director F. Gary Gray does skillful work in capturing the intensity of N.W.A.’s off-stage lives and the energy of their performances on stage.  This is a biopic that provides its audiences with a detailed view of a significant chapter of American music, a true story that should be experienced by both music lovers and moviegoers. 

Final grade: A-