Roxanne Roxanne

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 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.

The only thing that redeems this messy film is the superb acting specially from the lead actress Chanté Adams; she made me care about her character and root for her character, although neither the character's background or the struggles that the character went through have been represented well. Also, Mahershala Ali gave an awesome and powerful performance, he steals every scene he's in in this film.

Don't get me wrong it's a bad film but the great acting is what kept me riveted while watching it.

At the first act, the film tries to show me Roxanne Shanté's backstory which should be important but what I got instead are details about minor characters that don't have anything to do with the story but even that it was hard to figure out who's who. Also, there are a lot of in-your-face messages about racism.

The character of Roxanne Shanté's mother is annoyingly stereotyped and the film gave her dramatic scenes which are so corny. The dialogue is so faked and stilted that it ruined some great acted scenes.

There are many important turning points in the plot that are so rushed.

(5/10)

So I have to admit I was more into Headbangers Ball and Hair Metal then I ever was rap or hip hop. Some songs were an exception if they caught my attention. So while I knew who Shante was in mention I didn't ever know or experience HER.

However, when I was on youtube looking over new movie trailers trying to make a list of what I want to watch this one had enough drama to catch my eye. Which is great in itself because even there I am more of Horror/Action/Fantasy ind of girl. So this movie was so not me on all points and corners yet I settled down and started watching it and when I did it kept me watching from start to finish. I became so enthralled with the story of this lady's life that not only did I watch the movie and finish it I went to Wikipedia and several fan sites to read more. I then listened to the original song and then her response song in full followed by some of her other work. The movie touched me that much.

So yes I still love metal over rap lol. But this movie has inspired a new moderate fan.

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.