by Ed Travis
That Straight Outta Compton is good is somewhat of a cinematic miracle, what with all the rights issues needing to be worked out, the subjects themselves being producers on the film, and with most of the subjects still living while occasionally being depicted in a less than favorable light. That Straight Outta Compton is great goes past the miraculous straight into magic as the only explanation. And the film is great. It’s unwieldy and uneven, riddled with biopic tropes we’ve seen a thousand times before. And almost none of that matters; supplanted by an unbridled energy that’s bursting at the seams in every new scene, and as every new track is laid down.
The young cast is hungry to prove themselves and instantly become their characters. Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E is the true breakout here, so confident and charismatic you desperately hope you’re watching a superstar be born. But O’Shea Jackson, Jr. as his own father Ice Cube and Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre are wonderful to watch as well, if not quite as transfixing as Mitchell. Their chemistry together, complete with the real music rights being fully within the filmmakers grasps, feels electric. Watching the rise and fallout of N.W.A. feels almost as much like a superhero team up film ala The Avengers as it does like a music biopic. These are the icons of gangster rap, and make no mistake that hip hop is the predominant global musical style today, elevating this biopic into superhuman territory. Seeing these young men don their period-appropriate matching black outfits, ball caps, and jheri curls and using and testing their new found powers is akin to, and perhaps more thrilling than, seeing a young Peter Parker wake up post-spider bite and discovering his new abilities.
Its unapologetic blackness is also thrilling to behold. Straight Outta Compton, along with the Fast/Furious series, and the Ride Along films, among many others, appear to be putting the last nails in the coffin of the Hollywood studio system’s belief that African American stars and creative talent can’t be front and center on giant, mainstream fare. There are no big name stars in Straight Outta Compton. The only white face to photoshop onto the poster is Paul Giamatti’s. Straight Outta Compton broke through based on the power and popularity of its subjects (black men) and it’s quality (directed by a black man, F. Gary Gray). That this film appealed to a wide audience in multiplexes across the country simply cannot be denied. And it’d almost be tragic if a superhero-style Straight Outta Compton Cinematic Universe isn’t born from this, with Snoop Dogg and Tupac films connecting them together with varying degrees of cinematic quality.
Much of what I had to say about the film’s timeliness and thematic relevance was discussed in my theatrical review. But upon a second viewing, and after the 2015 Oscar nominations have been revealed and have largely robbed the film of any chance at Oscar glory, with its only nomination being for its screenplay (which is largely credited to white people), I have to revise my earlier statement that this isn’t an “awards movie”. Sure, its flaws are numerous and easy to spot. But at the same time there’s that aforementioned magic which makes you feel like you’re watching something firing on all cylinders. There’s a relevance to the content today which feels tragic and topical and important. There’s a Hollywood sheen to it all as well, something Oscar voters tend to love. Straight Outta Compton may not have initially felt like an “awards” film, but perhaps awards films of the future should feel a little bit more like Straight Outta Compton.
The Package
One of the most interesting draws of this Blu-ray release is the Unrated Director’s Cut. Was anything earth shattering going to be added back in? Would there perhaps be more scenes with Snoop Dogg or Tupac? In truth, there’s actually a fair amount of content added back in. Most of it is in the back half, with more screen time for Eazy and Dre and Cube’s love interests and future wives to be fleshed out. All of which is nice, especially seeing as Eazy-E’s widow is one of the film’s producers and allowed the rights to be used to create this film. And yes, there is a little bit of extra time spent with Keith Stanfield as Snoop Dogg, too. There are probably even some extra slow motion jiggling booties and gross shenanigans on tour with the young men, too. So while there’s a whole lot of content added back in, it ultimately feels like most Director’s Cuts do: The theatrical cut was right to cut out most of the content restored here. I imagine I’ll be returning to the theatrical cut over the years as I revisit this film, but this release is kind enough to include both versions, which is much appreciated.
Aside from the commentary, which features F. Gary Gray recording solo (I’m getting to the point where I feel that all commentary tracks should have at least two people to increase the dynamism), the bonus features are mostly a bevy of quick featurettes, under 5 minutes. They feature all the original members of N.W.A., so for that reason alone they’re pretty exciting. There’s nothing wrong with this style of bonus feature. I kind of enjoyed seeing about a dozen quick bursts of documentary featurettes. Gray seems like a wonderful guy and I’m thrilled that this film got him the clout needed to make the next Fast/Furious movie. But after about an hour I realized I was done with the commentary and called it a day. It’s not bad, per se, but the insight didn’t go much deeper than surface level production comments and Gray explaining why each scene is important… something the movie does quite well on its own without commentary.
Overall the film looks fantastic and the home video release is just as exciting as the theatrical was. Straight Outta Compton wasn’t nominated for nearly enough Oscars, but that’s okay, because I imagine it’ll live on in the popular public consciousness, much like its subjects have, long after many multi-nominated films this year will.
And I’m Out.
Straight Outta Compton hit Blu-ray and DVD on January 19th, 2016 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment