All Eyez On Me

You don't have to be a rap rat to dig Tupac Shakur. He was, as they say in the cheap seats, the real deal. If charisma is a word meaning star quality he had it in spades, as a singer, as an actor, as a man.

The biopic, directed by a relative unknown (Benny Boom), starring an absolute unknown (Demetrius Shipp, Jr) is messy, unstructured and deeply disappointing.

If you want to equate Tupac with anyone, it would be Bob Marley. Obviously the music was different but the messianic impact and sense of someone out of any kind of ordinary clicks. Tupac was the James Dean of his time.

The film, however, misses by miles. Shipp gives a physical interpretation, but however hard he tries he fails to find the magic.

Boom's technique is to shoot sequences of a life without filling in the gaps or explaining who people are and why they matter. It becomes and remains spasmodic, giving an impression that this is yet another bad boy makes good movie, with the inevitable three girls in a bed orgiastic indulgence while easing off on any drug abuse sub plot.

There was nothing cliche about Tupac which is why All Eyez On Me is an insult to fans.