Of the leads, however, it is Corey Hawkins’ Dr Dre who steals the film. depicts his own father Ice Cube in the film, and they share a bearing which imbues his lyrical wordsmith with a gravity extending beyond his words. His fallout with his friends, combined with his financial and health problems, create significant substance for the thesp, and he layers his character deeply.
Eazy-E, whose story plays out like the group’s Greek tragedy, is played very emotively by Jason Mitchell. The young cast are terrific – their physical likenesses to their counterparts are just the foundation for their performances, with all displaying the requisite charisma and screen presence to match their larger than life inspirations. Cinematographer Matthew Libatique shoots their world through a haze of smoke, emphasising realism with an immersive hand-held style (though cutting into some traditional ‘concert film’ footage for their electric live sets. Grappling with ‘too much ego, too much excess’, their personal lives are intertwined with guns and drugs and gang affiliations. Subsequent internal disputes, which ultimately tore the group apart, turn violent and extremely personal. Their manager Jerry Heller, played by Paul Giamatti in a similar turn to his work in the Beach Boys biopic ‘Love & Mercy’, only splits their earnings with Eazy-E, while the other members receive slim compensation under dubious contracts. Of course, the group’s rise to fame is not an entirely smooth one. Distributor Universal Pictures publicly offered to pay for extra security at cinemas exhibiting the film, and though no incidents were provoked, the film’s popularity speaks to how rousingly it addresses these topical issues. Very real concerns about riots were entertained by politicians, incited by the similarities between the racial issues within law enforcement depicted in 1990’s America, and the ongoing cases of racially motivated police violence today. Tellingly, when ‘Straight Outta Compton’ began playing in American theatres last month, it touched a nerve.
are brought together in a record deal under Eazy-E’s label Ruthless Records, their seminal track was titled ‘F*** tha Police’. The theme of racial tensions between African-Americans and police, particularly the LAPD, forms a key conflict in the film – indeed, once N.W.A. Cube is then assaulted outside his parents’ home by several policemen, despite doing nothing wrong. Ice Cube’s school bus is held up by gangsters, who pull cocked weapons on several students. Dr Dre is a budding DJ and producer, who elects to leave his mother’s house to try and make it on his own. Eazy-E is caught up in a drug deal turned drug bust, escaping across rooftops in a pulse-pounding set piece. are all introduced in the opening scenes, set in 1986 Compton. Though it risks offending viewers with the language and lifestyles depicted, anyone comfortable with their music ought to be okay viewing the narrative of its conception. A warts and all biopic charting the rise and fall of rap supergroup N.W.A., this is a well-acted, well-staged and powerfully emotional film.