ALL EYEZ ON ME

By Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

I didn’t really grow up on hip hop like my younger brother and older sister did, so I came at the movie, ALL EYEZ ON ME, rather neutral about Tupac Shakur, who still holds deity status in the rap/hip hop culture. Of course, I have basic knowledge of the players & East Coast / West Coast feud, mostly because I've seen the Biggie biopic NOTORIOUS and the N.W.A biopic STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON, but that doesn't give me the authority to speak back to the critics who say it may be a fine biopic for the uninitiated, but for Pac fans it doesn’t display the depth of his talent. That it feels like a series of events rather than capturing his persona...

There’s no time to explore these relationships nor to let them give us
context for Pac’s later life, save for Pinkett (who took to Twitter to refute the accuracy of scenes involving her). These events just happen, as if they’re mere shout-outs to Pac’s people. This poor pacing and all the melodramatic fade-to-black transitions give the early scenes a Lifetime Movie vibe. Boom and his writing team (Jeremy Haft, Eddie Gonzalez, and Steven Bagatourian) seem most concerned with getting the minutiae right for die-hard Pac fans. They prioritize frame-for-frame re-creations of Pac’s most famous interviews, videos, and appearances to the detriment of any real storytelling. READ MORE Marcos Cabrera The Villiage Voice

Forgive me... my relationship to Pac is too precious to me for the scenes in All Eyez On Me to stand as truth.
— Jada Pinkett Smith (@jadapsmith) June 16, 2017

It might have been good to see the things left out of the movie like a couple of other arrests, a short marriage, dating Madonna and his most famous movie with Janet Jackson Poetic Justice… But even though Pac only lived to 25, there's just too much to get it all in one movie...

Now the stuff of hip-hop mythology, Tupac Shakur and Madonna were once romantically involved, a point that is overlooked in the biopic. The megastar singer/actress opened up about their relationship during a 2015 interview with Howard Stern. “One time, I was mad at [Letterman] when I said the f-word a lot—I was in a weird mood that day,” Madonna said. “I was dating Tupac Shakur at the time and the thing is he got me all riled up on life in general.” Pac’s friend and actress Rosie Perez later admitted to hooking the two celebrities up at the 1993 Soul Train Music Awards. READ MORE John Kennedy Complex.com

I can speak to the fact that I was swept up in the story of his life, that I got a new appreciation for the slain rap star. And that All Eyez does NOT feel like a Lifetime movie to me. Demetrius Shipp Jr. who plays the iconic figure not only has an uncanny resemblance, but I feel he did an incredible job of bringing great energy to the role, even the stage performances; with a lot of that credit also going to the director Benny Boom, who started his career in the music industry making music videos. Boom attended the Philly preview and did a post screening interview which is posted to Tinsel & Tine’s Youtube channel. (See below. Video will not be visible to those receiving T&T via RSS Feed click HERE)

All Eyez on Me - Director Benny Boom
Post Screening in Philly

This was a screening Tinsel & Tine Subscribers could win tickets to attend:

I had a small issue with the casting of Jada Pinkett Smith (Kat Graham) & Faith Evans (Grace Gibson) because not only did these actors look nothing like the real women, neither actually captured their essence. And Jarrett Ellis as Snoop seemed to have a dead on impersonation, but it never looked like the words were actually coming from his mouth, was there a voice over actor who could immitate Snoop and Ellis just stood in? Cause if so, then why not find someone who looked more like Snoop. However, Suge Knight (Dominic L. Santana) was perfect, just as perfect as R. Marcos Taylor who portrayed Suge in "SOC".

At the end of the day it's not what Critics think, but what the movie going public thinks!

Bottom Line: If you compare N.W.A biopic to Tupac biopic - I feel Straight Outta Compton is the better movie, but it's got a lot of Hollywood spit, shine and polish on it. Where as, All Eyez on Me is more raw, in some ways I like that better. However, I'd watch "SOC" again and again, cause it's such a good ride. "All Eyez" doesn't quite have that vibe, but deserves more props and recognition than it's getting. And Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead) who plays Afeni Shakur, Tupac's mother, is so strong. Look for her as Okoye in Black Panther 2018.

T & T's LAMB (movie bloggers association) Score: 4 outta 5
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