![]() On the strength of “Boyz-n-the-Hood”-which Ice Cube wrote and Dre produced-the three would go on to form the supergroup NWA. It makes you band together with these guys as they break off from each other in the film.The origins of this no-holds-barred style of rap is the subject of Straight Outta Compton, which recounts the rise of Eazy and his compatriots Ice Cube and Dr. The circle of mistrust with police authority has not only been unbroken, but might’ve become even stronger in us vs them mentality. ![]() Gray (The Negotiator, Friday) has his finger on the pulse of what was happening then and that is still felt now (nationwide). The song itself was a voice of opposition, and watching it performed in the film, which also works in painful footage of Rodney King being ruthlessly beaten by numerous cops and the inner-city riots that ensued, is what elevates Straight Outta Compton as a biopic. The police hostility, bow-down mentality, constant harassment, use of tanks within the community, and abuse of power at concerts will be the legacy of this film. What Compton gets right about the group’s legacy-and what cuts the deepest-is Gray’s careful attention to their biggest hit: “F*ck tha Police”. Play Straight Outta Compton shows a few raucous party scenes, group sex, and poppin’ pool parties, but it does scrub clean a few of the group's more sexist lyrics about slappin’ hoes and that every woman has a little bitch in ‘em. Consequently, E is the heart of Straight Outta Compton, and his relationship with Heller can sometimes even be touching, but Cube and Dre feel like image protectors who face smaller conflicts than E-and overcome them easily. Dre record tracks with Tupac (Marcc Rose) and Snoop Dogg (Lakeith Lee Stanfield)-the movie merely reinforces that Cube was right to leave Heller, and Dre was right to leave Knight, without putting either character in situations where they come out as anything less than correct. As entertaining as it is to see Ice Cube cut diss response tracks and shut down a JDL partisan, and see Dr. Dre, respectively, went on to become a famous actor, and a business mogul who not only created hit records, but also sold his headphones business to Apple. E died of AIDS in the early '90s and Ice Cube and Dr. Eazy-E is the most defined character because he’s got nothing to lose in the present. And the Behind the Music re-enactments begin, with a final third of the film that has far less vital energy than the beginning. Everyone flourishes on their own (except E). Marcus Taylor), to get out of Heller’s contract through violent threats. Dre partners with a business enforcer, Suge Knight (R. Play Everyone signs the second-class contracts they get except Cube, and the second half of the film is all business: Ice Cube becomes a bigger solo artist than the group, Dr. Dre (Corey Hawkins) who composes most of the beats, DJ Yella (Neil Brown, Jr.) and MC Ren (Aldis Hodge) all get their contracts after the album Straight Outta Compton is a hit, and midway through a huge (and controversial) sold-out tour. Ice Cube (O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Ice Cube’s real-life son), who writes almost all of the group’s lyrics, Dr. ![]() Heller is the wedge that drives the group apart because he has a stake in Eazy-E’s record label (Ruthless) and favors all of E’s business because it grows his own business. Mitchell is a true find for E, a rapper with a childish voice who raps about sex, drugs, and murders, giving that iconic voice a charisma that makes it understandable why the other (more talented) members gave him the first shot. He had the cash (through selling crack) to get the studio time, had the first hit single (“Boyz-n-the-Hood”), and got the manager that knocked down doors to get the group signed and on the road, Jerry Heller (Paul Giamatti, playing a similar manipulative music manager role as he did in this year’s Love & Mercy, except with less yelling at the group for eating hamburgers). In the big sprawling story, Eazy-E (Jason Mitchell) owns the first half of the movie, which is appropriate because E was the first star from the super group.
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