Documenting The Lifestyle: Why Straight Outta Compton Works!

The Good: Engaging story, Decent performances, Moments of character
The Bad: Underdeveloped moments and characters
The Basics: Straight Outta Compton hits its mark for telling the story of Ruthless Records and the meteoric rise of N.W.A.


Living, as I now do, in pretty much the middle of nowhere, I do not get to go out to the movies as often as I might like. There is a theater in my current town that shows a single movie for a single showing each day for a week or two at a time. So, when I go out to the movies at the nearest city, it takes a lot these days to hook me on going back out. Earlier this year, when I went downstate to see Terminator: Genisys (reviewed here!), there was only one movie trailer before the film that actually grabbed me and made me want to watch the film it advertised. The trailer was for Straight Outta Compton and I was surprised by how effective the trailer was (even if I didn't rush out to see it in the theaters when it was released in August).

Straight Outta Compton was advertised as a film based on the rise of the band N.W.A. and the draw of the trailer was impressive in that I was a kid when N.W.A.'s album Straight Outta Compton was released and, to this day, I don't believe I've heard the entire thing. As a kid growing up in the suburbs in Upstate New York, the concepts and struggles depicted in gangster rap were very much outside my experience. In fact, in high school, I can recall only one of my fellow students who knew anything about gangster culture. But the preview trailer for Straight Outta Compton painted a picture of an engaging story that would tell the story of how the Los Angeles rap group N.W.A. was formed.

And, in broad strokes, Straight Outta Compton does that. The film belabors the disintegration of the band, more than its formation, but for those who have no experience with the players involved, Straight Outta Compton depicts an interesting story of young, disenfranchised men who decide to make a positive contribution to society by railing against the problems they live with daily.

In Compton (Los Angeles) in 1986, Easy-E is dealing drugs and avoiding the police, while the local D.J. Dr. Dre is struggling to get respect from his mother, who wants more from him. He leaves his brother behind at his mother's house and moves out to try to make a viable music career. At the time, Ice Cube is in high school, writing rhymes and songs about life around him. One night, at Doo-Tos Club, Dre puts Cube on the mic while he and DJ Yella spin records. Easy-E and MC Ren hear the performance and are impressed. Dre convinces Easy-E to put some of his drug money into a record and soon after, they form Ruthless Records. The quintet creates a record, "Boyz 'N The Hood" with Easy-E providing the lead vocals and they begin selling out copies of the single locally. While picking up a pressing of the record, Easy-E is approached by Jerry Heller. Heller tells Easy-E he can make N.W.A. legitimate and he soon delivers, by getting the group signed with Priority Records. While recording the album Straight Outta Compton, the group goes outside and is harassed by the Torrence Police and Jerry steps in; Ice Cube writes the song "Fuck Tha Police" and it becomes a hit for the group.

While touring to promote the album Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A. sells out shows around the United States and they spend 1989 touring, until Dr. Dre's younger brother is killed and the band is arrested during their Detroit concert. At a press conference after the band is freed, a reporter's question about money clues the uncontracted Ice Cube into the idea that the band is making a lot of money that its members are not seeing. As the primary writer of the group's material, Ice Cube pushes Jerry for a better contract before he quits the group and goes solo. As Ice Cube's solo career takes off, N.W.A. releases a second album without him and the band begins to fall apart. By 1993, Easy-E finally learns the truth about how Jerry was stealing money from him and the others and as N.W.A. prepares to come back together for a new album, Easy-E collapses from HIV-related complications.

Straight Outta Compton works for the parts it possesses, but it is noticeably missing massive chunks of the story of the band N.W.A. Easy-E is shown coming up with the name Ruthless Records, but the group is already named N.W.A. when Easy-E meets Jerry. Similarly, how the members of the group met one another is not at all clear from Straight Outta Compton. Moreover, while MC Ren might have been integral to N.W.A., in Straight Outta Compton, he is essentially a background singer. Similarly, DJ Yella is presented as a technician while Dr. Dre seems to be the group's primary composer. Straight Outta Compton is also lacking in any scenes that reveal how much of the titular album was actually created: after a single recording becomes a hit, N.W.A. is suddenly recording a full album based on . . . .? Ice Cube's notebook, perhaps? Only the genesis of "Fuck Tha Police" is illustrated and as a writer, it's somewhat baffling to me to consider that the group speed-read the song and then instantly composed and recorded it?

The question marks are indicative of how the narrative gaps in Straight Outta Compton affect the basic comprehension of the story the movie depicts. Easy-E, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube are given substantive roles in Straight Outta Compton, but even Jerry Heller has a more meaty role than MC Ren and DJ Yella. A film ought not to require extensive research on the story it tells in order to understand what it depicts. To wit, there is a single line in Straight Outta Compton from Jerry to Easy-E about him having sex with a lot of women prior to Easy-E suddenly being revealed to be H.I.V. positive. It's not like throughout the film, Easy-E is actually seen with tons of different women.

Despite the occasionally sloppy storytelling, Straight Outta Compton is very engaging. It is also surprisingly charming. There are some amusing one-liners throughout Straight Outta Compton and they are universally well-delivered. While Paul Giamatti is the most prominent performer in Straight Outta Compton, the talents of O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, and Jason Mitchell are impressively presented. Jackson plays his own father (Ice Cube) throughout the film and he nails the role from the trademark scowl to the swagger Ice Cube has on-screen. Hawkins plays Dr. Dre and the role gives him a couple of truly great scenes as Dr. wrestles with leaving his family and its effects.

Mitchell is getting decent pre-Oscar buzz already and his performance as Easy-E gives him a lot to play with. After hours of playing Easy-E cool and collected, Mitchell has to maintain the character while infusing him with absolute shock over his diagnosis and the loss of the power and clout he once had. The on-screen gravitas of Jackson and Mitchell and the scenes bouncing between the two makes for a better flow for Straight Outta Compton than the film's writing.

In the end, Straight Outta Compton is a solidly entertaining docudrama, regardless of how much of it is missing; what is present is impressive enough to be worth watching.

For other works with Aldis Hodge, please visit my reviews of:
The Walking Dead - Season 4
The East
Happy Feet
American Dreamz

7/10

For other movie reviews, please check out my Film Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2015 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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Wonderful Save The Genre Conceits: The Negotiator Holds Up!

The Good: Acting, Plot development, Mood
The Bad: Somewhat light on character development, No DVD extras
The Basics: The Negotiator is a clever, tense thriller that illustrates just what an amazing cast can do for a crime drama!


Lately, I have been returning to some of my favorite films of my youth and at the top of my list of movies I was eager to re-experience as an adult was The Negotiator. I remembered seeing The Negotiator, but recalled surprisingly few of the specifics. I knew that it was a movie I came to with a love of the works of Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson and that the top billing for the film was a powerhouse move. I remember seeing The Negotiator with my dad, who complimented the film as great for the casting. I remember him saying – and now, having rewatched it, I find myself agreeing – that what made The Negotiator so good was that both men played characters that could so plausibly be police negotiators. At the time, I think I dismissed that as just good casting, but every moment of The Negotiator is a study of truly great acting. From the powerhouses who get top billing to the people who appeared in almost nothing else I’d ever seen who play off them – most notably Siobhan Fallon - The Negotiator is an impressive dramatic thriller.

The Negotiator has a stellar cast and is exciting in a timeless way. Rewatching it, I became worried that the opening credits telegraphed far too much of the underlying character issues that would make the “whodunit” almost irrelevant. Fortunately, director F. Gary Gray is not that dimwitted and the film is smart enough to keep enough surprises for the final act to make the film exciting to watch and rewatch.

Danny Roman is an exceptionally successful police negotiator in Chicago. After he helps save the life of a girl, the Department is partying (despite some feeling that Roman is a bit reckless). Roman’s partner takes him away from the party to tell him he has information on who robbed the police disability fund. When Danny gets a page from his partner the next night, he arrives and finds his partner and friend dead. With Danny implicated, Roman feels that there is a conspiracy tightening around him. Going after his only lead, Internal Affairs Inspector Terence Niebaum, Roman hits a roadblock and becomes convinced he has the rat who his partner was leading him to. In a moment of anger, Roman turns the tables on Niebaum and takes Niebaum, his assistant Maggie and a police snitch who is in Niebaum’s office at the time, hostage.

As Police Chief Al Travis has the Chicago police converge upon the administrative building and put Roman in the crosshairs, Danny Roman demands police negotiator Chris Sabian deal with him. Sabian struggles to make it across town to meet Roman’s deadline, but soon he begins negotiations for the lives of the hostages (which also include Roman’s professional ally Grant Frost). After a botched raid – which gives Roman two new hostages and soon leads to casualties – Sabian begins to see that Roman may be onto something in declaring his innocence. With the aid of Niebaum’s computers, Roman learns about an insurance scam that has robbed the Chicago police officers of almost two million dollars. With enemies in the police force gunning for him, Danny Roman finds an unlikely ally in Chris Sabian as they work to expose the guilty parties within the department.

The Negotiator has enough character to it to push it well above the usual thriller. It might not be as stylish as, for example, The Usual Suspects (reviewed here!), but it is tense and engaging and the performances are top notch. Chris Sabian brings most of the film’s humor to The Negotiator by being unpredictable. Kevin Spacey’s first scene in The Negotiator is a clever personal scene wherein Chris Sabian tries to negotiate with his wife and daughter – unsuccessfully. The overt humor there turns to a very different type of humor when Sabian risks everything by hanging up on Danny Roman when Roman starts making his demands.

The plot to The Negotiator unfolds well. The chain of events that come from Danny Roman reacting and then taking control of his investigation is thrilling to watch. The aid of Rudy and Maggie, Roman and Sabian begin to find the truth . . . and they begin to forge a bond that leads to a very satisfying end.

Along with Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey, The Negotiator uses the talents of Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, Paul Giamatti, J.T. Walsh, and (to a lesser extent) David Morse very well. All of the men in The Negotiator, as well as Siobhan Fallon and Regina Taylor, give nuanced performances that are dramatic and compelling.

One of the few enduring issues with The Negotiator is the same as with the recent Blu-Ray release for The American President (reviewed here!); the studios did not invest in any bonus features for the DVD release. The result is that viewers are not treated to stories from on the set or featurettes on the making of the film and that is unfortunate.

But The Negotiator is another impressive film where the source material outweighs any of the problems with the digital media for it. Setting a standard for character, performance and plot, The Negotiator is a tight and enjoyable thriller well worth watching.

For other works with Samuel L. Jackson, please visit my reviews of:
”0-8-4” - Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Marvel Universe Phase 1
The Other Guys
The Clone Wars
Farce Of The Penguins
The Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Kill Bill, Vol. 2
The Incredibles
XXX
Changing Lanes
Unbreakable
The Red Violin
Jackie Brown
Hard Eight
Pulp Fiction
Jurassic Park

8.5/10

For other film reviews, please visit my Movie Review Index Page for an organized listing!

© 2013 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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