Straight Outta Compton (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Straight Outta Compton (2015) – F. Gary Gray

I spun N.W.A. a few times at WCWM in the ‘80s, but Public Enemy was more my bag at the time and then I drifted away from rap/hip-hop altogether.  So, I only knew part of the story of the rise and fall of the gangsta rap supergroup featuring Eazy-E., Ice Cube, and Dr. Dre (among others).  Director F. Gary Gray follows the contours of the usual biopic – however, tracking several major characters unavoidably results in giant ellipses in their personal stories (particularly when it comes to the women in their lives).  The fact that this is yet another cautionary tale about the perils of fame and bad business deals makes it feel familiar even though Paul Giamatti executes the villain role with some aplomb and at least one protagonist (Ice Cube, of course, played incredibly by his own son) is able to defy the usual arc. So, in the end the music itself carries the picture (as it should) and just as I was wondering why I didn’t remember the N.W.A. reunion that finally seems to be coming together, everything falls apart with Eazy-E’s death from AIDS.  Reflecting now, it’s depressing to think that N.W.A.’s bravado focus on police brutality in the black community had no effect at all. If anything, the problem seems even worse these days but that’s probably just a function of the new availability of viral videos when previously things stayed hidden (and/or were ignored).