Read Ava DuVernay's Glowing Review Of 'Straight Outta Compton'
F. Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton has been getting great reviews from just about everyone, and now you can add Ava DuVernay to its growing list of admirers.
The Selma director is uniquely qualified to critique the film. Not only is she an accomplished filmmaker in her own right, and a tireless advocate of diversity in Hollywood, DuVernay actually grew up in Compton as the events depicted in Straight Outta Compton were unfolding. Read the Ava DuVernay Straight Outta Compton review after the jump.
DuVernay spilled her Straight Outta Compton thoughts on Twitter in a series of 18 tweets. She compares Gray's film to her own lived experiences, touches upon hip-hop's treatment of women, and showers praise on all the artists involved including Gray, cinematographer Matthew Libatique, and the talented young cast. In all, her reaction to the picture is nearly as moving, insightful, and personal as the picture itself.
DuVernay also offered her thoughts on the media's apparent shock that screenings of Straight Outta Compton did not immediately devolve into violence and mayhem.
For even more from DuVernay on Straight Outta Compton, check out her AFFRM podcast interview with Gray.
Straight Outta Compton is in theaters now. Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Aldis Hodge, Neil Brown Jr., and Paul Giamatti star as N.W.A. members Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, DJ Yella, and manager Jerry Heller, respectively.
In the mid-1980s, the streets of Compton, California, were some of the most dangerous in the country. When five young men translated their experiences growing up into brutally honest music that rebelled against abusive authority, they gave an explosive voice to a silenced generation. Following the meteoric rise and fall of N.W.A., Straight Outta Compton tells the astonishing story of how these young men revolutionized music and pop culture forever the moment they told the world the truth about life in the hood and ignited a cultural war.