Review of Straight Outta Compton (2015) by Jason G — 26 Jan 2016

3/4 stars.

Its reach may exceed its grasp, but it's always a treat when an overlong movie has the screenplay to back it up, rather than a mere reliance on shots of the wilderness and people grunting (looking at you, "The Revenant" and every Terence Malick film). Because of the characters' rampant and inexcusable misogyny, I did find them rather inaccessible for most of the film, but the bleak portrayal of police violence against these men earned my deepest sympathies. Special mention goes to the following three actors: Jason Mitchell for his overall performance as Eazy-E, which becomes more nuanced as the film progresses; O'Shea Jackson Jr. for his consistently palpable rage during each of his performances; and to Lisa Renee Pitts in the all too minor role as Dr. Dre's mother Verna Young, a role that easily could have earned her major award nominations if only it were expanded. The screenplay's Oscar nomination is deserved, but I wish that director F. Gary Gray and supporting actor Mitchell had also received some attention.