Straight Outta Compton review

The N.W.A stepped onto the late 80’s music scene with all the subtlety and grace of a stick of dynamite thrown in a Western. F. Gary Gray’s much-hyped biopic follows the group’s members – Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins), Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr.) Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell), MC Ren (Aldis Hodge), DJ Yella, (Neil Brown, Jr.) - from the success of their first single 'Boyz-n-the-Hood' and the release of their seminal album Straight Outta Compton to their vilification by the media and their eventual downfall.

Gray does well to put the group’s confrontational stance into context by showing us an L.A. seething with racial tensions. The group’s members are all subject to police harassment at some point. And the composition of their infamous song ‘Fuck tha Police’ is effectively dramatised with it coming straight after a scene where the group are accused of being gang members and forced to get onto the pavement by several police officers – this situation is only defused by the intervention of their white manager Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti).

The scenes of the group’s live performances do an excellent job of capturing the energy and attitude that cemented the group’s appeal yet also made them the subject of unwanted attention from law enforcement. A scene in which the group perform in Detroit after being warned by the city’s police not to play the song ‘F the police,’ as the officer addressing them puts it, is particularly riotous, and also cathartic, when the inevitable occurs and Ice Cube is asked to ‘take the stand.’

Noteworthy performances come from O’ Shea Jackson, Jr. as Ice Cube – perhaps unsurprisingly since Jackson is Ice Cube’s son – and from Paul Giamatti as the band’s manager Jerry Heller. Giamatti seems to excel when playing seedy characters and here, as in the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy, he gets to sink his teeth into just such a role.

If the film has a weakness it’s its length. There's too much time between the breakup of the N.W.A and the end of the film. Also, without the group as a united force, the film’s second half lacks the energy that makes the first so exciting. If you’re an avid hip-hop historian you might find the scenes covering the feuds between the various characters interesting. For the more casual moviegoer, however, these parts may have the feel of a rubber duck floating aimlessly in a bathtub.

The sequences surrounding Eazy-E’s HIV diagnosis are treated with care, and the emotional punches fall hard as he is visited by his old friends. These, together with a very satisfying final scene involving Dr. Dre, keep the film from petering out.

Tributes from 50 Cent and Eminem during the credits drive home the N.W.A’s musical importance in a fitting, though not quite flawless, record of the hip-hop pioneers.