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All Eyez on Me
By Jeffrey Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Edgy but bland biopic fails to capture Tupac's genius.
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All Eyez on Me
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What's the Story?
In ALL EYEZ ON ME, Africfan-American activist Afeni Shakur (Danai Gurira) is released from prison just weeks before she gives birth to her eldest son, Tupac. Years later, the family has moved from New York to Baltimore to Oakland, and Afeni becomes a drug user. The well-educated Tupac (now played by Demetrius Shipp Jr.) realizes that he must support the family and lands a job performing with hip-hop group Digital Underground. This quickly leads to his own solo career, but despite many huge hits, he never seems to have any money. He has many brushes with the law, and his legal fees keep climbing. While in prison for a sexual abuse charge, he signs with Death Row records, which run by the notorious Suge Knight (Dominic L. Santana). Suddenly Tupac has freedom, but at a price. A new kind of violence enters into his life, and September 1996 is fast approaching.
Is It Any Good?
Newcomer Shipp Jr. is well cast as Tupac, but the movie, unlike Tupac's own storytelling, is sluggish and generic; it doesn't adequately capture the artist's unique genius. Director Benny Boom has made music videos and one other feature, the terrible Next Day Air. Working from a screenplay by three writers, he frames the movie with Tupac giving an interview to a journalist while in prison. It's an old device, and it allows the filmmaker to smooth over (or ignore) the more challenging aspects of Shakur's life.
All Eyez on Me -- named for Shakur's 1996 double-LP masterpiece -- proceeds through chunks of time, showing what happened but not really clarifying how or why. Some events are covered so lazily and some characters are so poorly introduced that only die-hard fans who already know his story will be able to fill in the blanks. On the plus side, the music sequences are dynamic and truly come alive thanks to Shipp's dynamic embodiment of the performer and the fact that Shakur's actual recordings are used. But this is an unworthy movie, and viewers would be better off checking out Shakuir's Live at the House of Blues video or his performances in movies like Juice and Gridlock'd.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about All Eyez on Me's violence. How does the fact that much of it happened in real life affect its impact?
How is sex depicted in the movie? Is it intimate or impersonal? What's the difference? Parents, talk to your teens about your own values regarding sex and relationships.
How does the movie portray women? Are women objectified? What message does that send? Are there any female characters you'd consider role models?
How are alcohol, smoking, and drugs portrayed? Does the movie glamorize them? Tupac refuses to use drugs; does that excuse his use of other substances?
What did you learn about Tupac from this movie? How accurate do you think it is? Why might filmmakers decide to change things in stories based on facts?
Movie Details
- In theaters: June 16, 2017
- On DVD or streaming: September 5, 2017
- Cast: Kat Graham , Demetrius Shipp Jr. , Danai Gurira
- Director: Benny Boom
- Inclusion Information: Black directors, Female actors, Black actors
- Studio: Summit Entertainment
- Genre: Drama
- Topics: Music and Sing-Along
- Run time: 140 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: language and drug use throughout, violence, some nudity and sexuality
- Last updated: June 18, 2023
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