A music genre and lifestyle I don't have much interest in

Horst_In_Translation

score 4/10

"Straight Outta Compton" is one of the most talked-about films from this year and it gives us an insight into the rise and fall of the successful hip-hop posse "NWA". And even if I am not too interested in rap music, I cannot deny having heard of some of the main characters such as Suge Knight and Dr. Dre of course. Maybe my lack of interest in this film is because I have not lived back then yet or wasn't old enough to follow these significant years in hip hop history. The director is F. Gary Gray and you may have seen his work "Law Abiding Citizen". Another problem I had with Compton is that it just felt too long for its own good. There was nothing really refreshing in here, pretty much everything expected, such as the guys' struggles with (predominantly white) policemen, authority arguments with other black people living in the hood etc. Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti may be the most known name in the cast here playing a prominent record company boss and even if he is good as usual, he cannot make this film a memorable watch either.

This movie runs for almost 2.5 hours, which is definitely way too long. They just did not have the material to make this an exciting watch for such a long time. 100 minutes would have been more than enough. There are occasionally interesting references about the 1980s such as near the end people thinking the HIV virus would only be transmitted through gay sex, but also this area is not enough and could have been much more than it actually turned out to be. I think this film is only a good watch for people who are already hugely interested in rap music before watching. This is no film that will spark an interest for anybody who doesn't really care about hip hop. Surprised this one has received such favorable critical reception. Not recommended.

Horst_In_Translation 12 October 2015

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw3333941/