They lived in a dangerous area. Where illegal actions take place at every turn. Where there is nowhere to turn for help, because the real gangsters are the Los Angeles police. Where you cannot get rich without selling drugs. But, despite this, they were able to gain world fame by releasing their debut album, "Straight from Compton."
Of course, one of the main advantages of the film “Straight from Compton” is the actors and the roles that they performed. Indeed, to achieve maximum resemblance to real rappers, a lot of work was done. And the result was obvious.
NWA History
The NWA group was created in the late 80s, and the American rapper , nicknamed Eazy-E, contributed to this. Living in a suburb of Los Angeles - Compton - and having accumulated a large enough amount of money, he decides to found a rap team by inviting four more guys from his district (Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Dj Yella and MC Ren). The idea was successful, and soon the NWA (Niggas With Attitude) records began to appear, which is now considered one of the founders of gangsta rap.
True, at first the efforts of the guys were not successful. The group was ignored by all radio stations and clubs for too extremist texts with a lot of profanity. And with their hit Fuck the police, they were able to attract the attention of the feds.
Not that no one had spoken badly about the representatives of the law before, just the NWA dedicated a whole song to it. It would be fair to note that the group in its work does not call anyone to violence. They just sing about life in their area, where not a day goes by without murder, drugs, violence and police arbitrariness. And by 1989, the group had achieved great popularity.
The fact that the NWA did not exist for long, it became known when the team left Ice Cube in 1990. The reason for this was a quarrel with the producer and project participant - Eazy-E. It seemed to him that he was getting less than he deserved.
A little later his example was followed by Dr. Dre, by the way, is also a result of controversy with the founder and manager of the label Ruthless Records. Without it, the group became even more difficult. Subsequently, the group again tried to unite, but this did not happen.
Plot of the film
The picture describes the events that occurred at the time of the prosperity and decay of the popular hip-hop team NWA. It tells how five unknown guys - Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, MC Ren, and Dj Yella revolutionized rap. The guys lived in one of the most dangerous cities in the United States - Compton, where the crime rate is so high that it’s scary to go outside again.
But they have a dream - world fame and fame, and they are moving towards them, regardless of obstacles. Inspired by the creativity of many hip-hop projects of the time, the guys write lyrics and soon release their first song. Their unexpected success is noticed by "muddy" producer Jerry Heller. The NWA team is releasing its first album, which is a big step towards their cherished dream. They eventually achieve popularity, but who would know what tests they had to pass for this!
Filming
Initially, New Line Cinema was planning to shoot the film “Straight from Compton” (the actors weren’t recruited yet), but later it turned out that it already belonged to another company - Warner Bros, which could shoot, but allocated less money than the creators expected to spend pictures. As a result, she had to refuse her services.
But Universal Studios liked the budget, and without any hesitation, it “rolled out” $ 29 million. Filming began even before the cast was recruited. Indeed, in order to count on tax benefits, it was necessary to shoot “Straight from Compton” at least once a day. Actors appeared later. And by the way, picking them up was not easy, since real rappers were no longer age-appropriate.
The main shootings began in Compton in the summer of 2014. The hardest thing was to get the NWA band history back in some 2.5 hours. And since this time was only enough for the beginning of the film, many frames had to be cut. But the picture was still excellent. And the most interesting thing is that shooting the film was able to reunite the NWA group for the first time since its collapse. By and large, such a believable game in the movie "Straight from Compton" actors should be obliged to these members of the hip-hop team.
Film crew
The director of the film was Gary Gray, who before that often shot videos for the songs of famous hip-hop artists. For this, he was awarded several times. Basically, he made the decision about which actors would take part in the filming of “Straight from Compton”. His films also include: Italian Robbery, Loner, Negotiator, Nutty Professor, and others.
Camera operations were handled by Matthew Libatic, who directed the filming of Black Swan and Iron Man-1, 2.
And the composer Joseph Trapanese wrote music for the films Oblivion, Raid and Tron. His work can be heard in several series. And he was involved in the filming and dubbing of the series "Justice Dexter."
“Straight from Compton”: actors, photo
Selecting actors for roles in the film, Gary Gray organized a nationwide casting, in which mostly unknown or little-known actors took part. And who got the main roles.
Eazy-e
The founder of the band and the creator of the label Ruthless Records was played by Jason Mitchell.
At first, however, they decided to share the role with the son of Eazy-E, but they say that nothing came of it. The guy was upset at first, but then even began to help Mitchell get used to the image of his father. In addition to this film, the actor participated in the creation of such films as “Fields”, “City of vice” and “Smuggling”.
Dr. Dre
Play Dr. Dre was lucky with Corey Hawkins, who by this time managed to take part in the filming of Iron Man 3, the short film Empire Corner and the TV series Dear Doctor.
In addition, Hawkins has been approved for the lead role in the restart of the 24 Hours franchise, as well as for the role in the sixth season of The Walking Dead.
Ice cube
Almost all the actors (“Straight from Compton”) were recruited from the side, but his 24-year-old son O'Shea Jackson Jr. was chosen for the role of this rapper. Which is not surprising, because he looks like a father in everything.
This was his first film role, and he coped well with it. Ice Cube himself said that the guy often had thoughts in his head about refusing to shoot, but the famous rapper managed to convince his son that no one would do better than him.
Mc ren
And the rapper, who was going to join the army after school, but as a result was carried away by hip-hop culture, was destined to play Eldis Hodge.
Like many actors who got roles in the movie Straight from Compton, he also managed to appear in several films: Die Hard-5 and Bed of Roses. There were also TV shows: New York Police and CSI: Crime Scene. And in GTA 5, he voiced one of the characters.
DJ Yella
His musical career began far from the moment of the creation of NWA. Before that, he participated in the same project with Dr. Dre. And only then he became one of the founders of the aforementioned team.
The actor Neil Brown, Jr., who by this time already participated in the filming of films such as “Alien Invasion,” “Never Give Up,” and “Out of Time,” was chosen for his role.
Conclusion
Even without watching the film, it is safe to say that the directors and actors of “Straight from Compton” worked and played at a high level. This is indicated by at least two facts. The first - the allocated $ 29 million during the show paid off almost 10 times. And the second - many positive reviews and reviews have already been written by people who watched the film and were satisfied with it.