Roxanne Roxanne

I remember when my boy D came home from Detroit with a Roxanne tape. It was all we played for weeks. This movie was well acted but lacked the feeling of the time and music of the period. I expected more from it.

As a hip hop head this truly disappointed me. Of course I am aware of the history Roxanne Shante has played. For those who did not know now know, but I felt the story was very weak. The dialogue doesn't grab you by the balls. There is a huge lack of, something. It doesn't feel raw. It doesn't take you back to the 80s, more like a low budget movie. The same feeling I got from The Get Down, although they had a 30 million dollar budget. I also feel that her story alone is not enough to represent Hip Hop alone. There were many other female MCs at that time who started way before Shante who never received the same credit they deserve. If this story is about abuse, a young girl going up in the projects and by ''accident'' becoming a full-time rapper, then overall it could have been told better.

I gave this movie a 8/10. I thought the acting was great and the actual quality of the movie (sound, picture, etc) was phenomenal. I don't know what the budget was but I wish more movies looked as good as this. Chanté Adams did an incredible job. She was a natural and very believable.

I think it was a little hard to follow if you're not from that era because I don't know all of the players. I'm an 80s baby and I still don't know everyone who was being portrayed in the movie. I think they should've paused the film with a little caption under each main character so the audience can get a better understanding of who is who.

Also, I would've liked the film to illustrate how Roxanne Shanté affected the billboards and media etc. This was an inside looking out movie but the outside looking in perspective would've been nice to add, just a tad. Other than that, solid film!

After watching this movie i cant say that I was left speechless but have to admit that there was definitely some decent acting and a familiar story told from a fresh and unique perspective. Nia Long who was playing the mother of Chante nailed her roll, her acting was really spot on. One could easily see how Mahershala Ali managed to score himself a golden statue. His character was the complete opposite of the one he played in Moonlight where he was the criminal with a golden heart. Here we had a troubled drug dealer who couldn't rise above his dark environment, his huge gangster ego and his selfish needs. And finally Chante gave us a really honest and fresh performance that kept me and my girlfriend watching until the end of the movie. I rate it 7 out of 10 only because i felt that the movie lacked a bit of depth.

All in all i would recommend this movie if you are into biopics.

Much better than most hiphop movies previously made, with a bit more depth and budget I would have gone to the cinema to see this.

Hopefully there will be more movies of this type as there some great stories to tell about the golden era of hiphop and plenty of fans.

Good acting and casting and held my attention throughout which is a rarity nowadays for tv output. Way better acted and far more authentic than The Getdown.