ALL EYEZ ON ME
****
Director: Benny Boom
Principal Cast:
Demetrius Shipp Jr.
Danai Gurira
Kat Graham
Hill Harper
Dominic L. Santana
Jamal Woolard
Screenwriters: Jeremy Haft, Eddie Gonzalez, Steven Bagatourian
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 140 mins.
Australian release date: 15 June 2017
Previewed at: Roadshow Pictures Theatrette, Pyrmont, Sydney, on 9 June 2017.
All Eyez On Me, the 1996 double album by Tupac Shakur and the last to be released by Death Row and Interscope Records while Shakur was still alive, is recognized as one of the most influential rap albums ever. It’s also the title of Benny Boom’s mesmerizing drama about the artist who was also known as 2Pac, Makaveli, or simply, Pac. Complete with the rapper’s trademark bandanna tied like rabbit ears, Demetrius Shipp Jr. - who bears an uncanny resemblance to Shakur; his performance is enthralling - takes us on a journey through the artist’s back-story as Shakur is being interviewed while behind bars in 1995. He was jailed for nine months after being found guilty of sexual assault, a charge that he always denied. We learn from the interviewer (Hill Harper) that he was the son of Black Panther Party members who were active in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. His mother Afeni (a powerful performance by Danai Gurira) was an integral part of his life despite having problems of her own, including a period when she ended up in rehab, and her political beliefs were a major influence on him. His closest ally was high-school friend Jada Pinkett (Kat Graham), with whom he stayed in contact as both their careers blossomed and whose friendship remained constant throughout his life. In his formative years, the young man studied drama, wrote poetry and acted in a number of films (Poetic/ Gang Related/ Gridlock’d).
His rap career evolved from his involvement with the alternative hip-hop group Digital Underground, for whom he was roadie, back-up singer and MC. Shakur went on to write and record his own songs dealing with violence, racism and social issues. He became part of the rap scene which included Suge Knight and Biggie Smalls and later the likes of Snoop Dog. All Eyez On Me covers significant episodes of the rapper’s career, particularly the bad blood between the East Coast and West Coast hip-hop fraternities which possibly led to Shakur’s drive-by murder in September 1996. His assassination remains an unsolved murder and the cause of much speculation. Suffice to say that Tupac Shakur was one of the greats who left a legacy that’s been compared to that of Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps not quite as insightful as the 2003 documentary Tupac: Resurrection the film is nonetheless impressive, if only for Shipp's role. You don’t have to be a lover of rap and hip-hop (though it helps) to appreciate Boom’s portrait of a leader of a musical movement who, in death, maintains a significant role in not just black culture but youth culture in general. As the man himself once said, “Ya’all know how this shit go…”
Principal Cast:
Demetrius Shipp Jr.
Danai Gurira
Kat Graham
Hill Harper
Dominic L. Santana
Jamal Woolard
Screenwriters: Jeremy Haft, Eddie Gonzalez, Steven Bagatourian
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 140 mins.
Australian release date: 15 June 2017
Previewed at: Roadshow Pictures Theatrette, Pyrmont, Sydney, on 9 June 2017.
All Eyez On Me, the 1996 double album by Tupac Shakur and the last to be released by Death Row and Interscope Records while Shakur was still alive, is recognized as one of the most influential rap albums ever. It’s also the title of Benny Boom’s mesmerizing drama about the artist who was also known as 2Pac, Makaveli, or simply, Pac. Complete with the rapper’s trademark bandanna tied like rabbit ears, Demetrius Shipp Jr. - who bears an uncanny resemblance to Shakur; his performance is enthralling - takes us on a journey through the artist’s back-story as Shakur is being interviewed while behind bars in 1995. He was jailed for nine months after being found guilty of sexual assault, a charge that he always denied. We learn from the interviewer (Hill Harper) that he was the son of Black Panther Party members who were active in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. His mother Afeni (a powerful performance by Danai Gurira) was an integral part of his life despite having problems of her own, including a period when she ended up in rehab, and her political beliefs were a major influence on him. His closest ally was high-school friend Jada Pinkett (Kat Graham), with whom he stayed in contact as both their careers blossomed and whose friendship remained constant throughout his life. In his formative years, the young man studied drama, wrote poetry and acted in a number of films (Poetic/ Gang Related/ Gridlock’d).
His rap career evolved from his involvement with the alternative hip-hop group Digital Underground, for whom he was roadie, back-up singer and MC. Shakur went on to write and record his own songs dealing with violence, racism and social issues. He became part of the rap scene which included Suge Knight and Biggie Smalls and later the likes of Snoop Dog. All Eyez On Me covers significant episodes of the rapper’s career, particularly the bad blood between the East Coast and West Coast hip-hop fraternities which possibly led to Shakur’s drive-by murder in September 1996. His assassination remains an unsolved murder and the cause of much speculation. Suffice to say that Tupac Shakur was one of the greats who left a legacy that’s been compared to that of Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix. Perhaps not quite as insightful as the 2003 documentary Tupac: Resurrection the film is nonetheless impressive, if only for Shipp's role. You don’t have to be a lover of rap and hip-hop (though it helps) to appreciate Boom’s portrait of a leader of a musical movement who, in death, maintains a significant role in not just black culture but youth culture in general. As the man himself once said, “Ya’all know how this shit go…”