Review of Straight Outta Compton (2015) by Gina D — 06 Oct 2015

The N.W.A. was financed by Eric "Eazy E" Wright, who was a drug dealer. DJ Andre, as known and Dr. Dre, and Ice Cubes foster the idea of N.W.A., which stood for N*ggas With Attitude. The two convinced Eazy E to support their rap group. The film conveys the hardships the rap group had overcome to get to their dreams. Jerry Heller managed the group, however favored Easy E more than the other group members. The group faced discrimination among the LAPD and the LAPD supporters such as the FBI. One of the key event in the firm that portrayed police brutality was when the group was outside the studio and the police made them lay down on the group and was harassed. Which resulted in the group producing their hit song, "F*ck the Police." This caused commotion with the LAPD but also excitement upon their fans. During their journey, their manager Jerry isolated the other group members in order to promote Eazy E. Eazy E was signed into the contract but the other members weren't, which resulted in Ice Cube leaving the group and Dr. Dre joining Death Row Records. Ice Cube was upset because he was the song writer of Ruthless Record, which Jerry Heller signed Eazy E to. Ice Cube and Eazy E had an indirect rap battle with singles being released from the opposing sides. As years pass, Easy E was losing money due to excess spending on drugs and materialistic items, Ice Cube went into producing his own films, and Dr. Dre began his own record label. Easy E eventually cut ties with Jerry because he was facing hidden costs, but eventually passed away from AIDs.

The characters in the film were based on the true story of N.W.A., and they were great actors. Ice Cube's son, O'Shea Jackson Jr. played Ice Cube's part perfectly with the emotions and acting. The dialogue/language in the film is explicit but it just shows the true hardships the N.W.A. faced from the LAPD. The character that changed in the movie was Eazy E. He was blinded by Jerry Heller's lies and eventually opened his eyes and came back to the group. The rest of the main characters stayed true to their morals. Eazy E was blinded by the money and drugs but asked for forgiveness once he was buried in expenses. The main conflict was between Eazy E and the other group members in regards of unpaid credits, contracts, and appreciation. The conflict was resolved when Eazy E apologized but it was too late to make amends because of his death.

The music played in the film is produced from the rap group themselves and also the famous artists around this time. (1980's) The camera angles were just like regular movies and not 1st person view. The music definitely matched the film.

The events took place in Compton and all around the United States. The characters were dressed in casual clothing and also accessorized with big gold statement pieces. The characters definitely played their roles to the highest expectation. Though I did not know the history of N.W.A., I was moved from this film.

What I would change in this film would be provide the background of Jerry Heller in order to understand his motives, and as well as additional perspectives of people involved in this movie such as Dr. Dre's child's mother, and as well as Ice Cube's wife. Overall the film was presented perfectly to narrow down the key events the N.W.A. had overcome.