Not bad by Lifetime bio-pic standards, occasionally fairly good actually.It does get a little held back though by that fact that explicit language and 'grown up material' gets censored (at least when aired on Lifetime TV) but not too bad... The first scene of domestic violence is still very much disturbing. And of course the running-time is confined to 90 minutes and gets a little unfocused here and there due to trying to squeeze in too much in too little time.A couple issues regarding some smaller details of the script which me as a hiphop-head might know a little too much about to believe, for one the fact that they made it look like the reason Dre and Eazy E clashed was because of his treatment of Michel'e. Gotta call bogus on that.And also for some reason they portray Tupac and Dre as best friends even claiming that Pac hated Suge and was gonna join him on Aftermath, which couldn't be more far from the truth. In fact Tupac was a big reason why Dre ended up leaving Death Row because he wasn't cool with him taking credit for music he didn't do and made countless of disses to Dre after he left (Toss It Up, Watch Ya Mouth etc).But that's neither here or there in terms of the quality of the movie I suppose, and I don't think there have been a single movie based on a true story where they didn't change something and it's still a decent watch.There's a lot of talks in the comments about her voice, Michel'e does have a childs speaking voice (and the actress playing her puts one on as well) and it did caught me off guard the first time I saw her in a interview but you get used to it after a while.So yeah overall watchable, maybe a (uncensored) extended blu ray or something would be an idea. Lifetime?
... View MoreI don't usually review "made-for-TV-movies," but this time I'll make an exception. "Surviving Compton" is a story about--and narrated by--former pop star Michel'le. It seems before her "15 minutes," she was involved with Dr. Dre, NWA, Shuge Knight, Death Row Records, and also had brief interactions with Tu Pac, MC Hammer, and anyone else who just hung around.Hers was a life of hell. Pregnant by "I'll-do-anyone-who-stops- moving-for-too-long," Dr. Dre, then wooed, used, and abused by Suge Knight while he was in jail, I had to continually ask myself why did she stay? See, growing up in a family of women who would just as soon knock your ass off as look at you, it defies description for me to watch any kind of film where women are used as punching bags. Let's just say that I have an entirely different opinion of Dr. Dre after watching this film. It takes some kind of "man" to beat on a helpless woman, doesn't it? And the thugs he surrounded himself with were no better. Oh, you heard a lot of "that ain't right" BS, but not one would stand up and help her.I found the film very choppy at times lacking much (if any) cohesiveness. Random scenes appeared, as did characters, and the movie jumped around quite a bit. Authenticity also has to be questioned because the NWA in this screen version came across as angels. But (and this is probably the biggest problem I had) what really got on my nerves was the voice of Michel'le. Not only did the real Michel'le narrate this, but her screen portrayal also had that same 3-year old voice that (a) you couldn't understand, and (b) made you want to turn the movie off. Honestly, as pointed out by another reviewer, the experience might have been more tolerable had subtitles been used.The movie ends with Michel'le singing some torch song about survival, coming to terms, and acceptance. Uh...yeah. The movie is pretty tame but does have some racy moments, a little language, and drug use. I cannot really recommend it, but it is free so you may want to check it out.
... View MoreCouldn't even finish for the simple fact that I can't stand listening to an adult that speaks worse than a year old or like a baby.... Should be nice to watch and hear but I'm only getting nails on a chalk board. felt like I was watching the adult vision of the rugrats. Like I said, it was such an annoyance listening to her, I had to shut it off... Maybe if I watch this to have subtitles I can mute it and watch lol, Like a foreign film. Don't really have much else to say regarding this because it wasn't watch in its entirety but I have to have 10 lines to post the review... anyone, if its OK and someone watches the whole thing lmk
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