Movie Review: Roxanne Roxanne

Roxanne Roxanne *** / *****

Directed by: Michael Larnell.

Written by: Michael Larnell.

Starring: Chanté Adams (Roxanne Shanté), Mahershala Ali (Cross), Nia Long (Ms. Peggy Gooden), Elvis Nolasco (Ray), Kevin Phillips (Marley), Shenell Edmonds (Ranita), Arnstar (MC Shan), Nigel A. Fullerton (Biz Markie), Tremaine Brown Jr. (Nasir), Cheryse Dyllan (Sparky Dee), Taliyah Whitaker (Young Roxanne Shanté), Charlie Hudson III (Mr. Magic), Mitchell Edwards (Tone).

 

Roxanne Roxanne is a rap biopic about Roxanne Shante – someone who I had never heard of before this movie, but did make a big impact on female MC’s during her brief time as a top MC. Michael Larnell’s biopic does an admirable job trying to avoid the clichés of the musical biopic – the rise from humble beginnings, often followed by a fall, and then a rise again – mainly because he doesn’t seem nearly as interested in Shante’s music career as he is in her life. If you head over to her Wikipedia page, you’ll see a lot of information of the Juice Crew, the Roxanne wars, KRS-One, etc. – and the film isn’t really interested in that. It takes about a half hour before we even hear Shante rap at all.

 

It’s the 1980s in Queensbridge – a rough era in New York – and the rap battle champion is a 14 year old girl – Shante (Chante Adams). She is living a tough life though – no father in the picture, a mother (Nia Long) sliding into alcoholism and depression, and Shante who is having to do a lot of the heavy lifting raising her three younger sisters. She shoplifts for extra money – and does those rap battles. The movie covers a long period of time – too long really – in Shante’s life, as she goes from a poor kid, to going on a tour for her career, and eventually to an abusive relationship with a much older drug dealer (Mahershala Ali).

 

While the movie does avoid many of the clichés of the musical biopic, that’s not always for the best. The film does try and cover too much – and it’s often the expense of more nuance characters. Nia Long is very good as Shante’s mother – but what starts out as a more fleshed out character – a woman gets tired of being beat down by life, by having men let her down, etc. – eventually does end up in fairly well-trod paths, complete with a scene of “redemption” at the end between mother and daughter, that doesn’t ring true. In the case of Cross, Ali does a remarkable job taking this character and making him more nuanced than he is in the script – it’s clear he’s grooming Shante in the beginning, and eventually he will become a one-dimensional bad guy – but it’s still interesting to see Ali work – and how similar in some ways he is here as he is in Moonlight – and how a few subtle changes can impact the entire character.

 

Still, even if Roxanne Roxanne isn’t always successful, it’s always interesting – thanks in large part to a wonderful performance by newcomer Chante Adams in the lead role. Hers is the most complex character in the film – and we see her make mistakes, get a big head, and be brought low again – but never get defeated, never give up. The rap scenes are actually quite good as well – capturing the charisma of Shante – and why she became a star in the first place. She keeps the movie interesting – even when you know where the film is going.

 

I do kind of wish more biopics would take a similar approach – skipping the parts of the life of famous person people know, and focusing instead of what shaped them – what made them who they were in the first place. Roxanne Roxanne doesn’t always get things right – but it has the right idea.