Synopsis
The most feared battle emcee in the early 1980s in Queens, New York, was a fierce teenager from the Queensbridge projects. At the age of 14, Roxanne Shanté was well on her way to becoming a hip-hop legend, as she hustled to provide for her family while defending herself from the dangers of the street.
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Cast
- Chanté AdamsRoxanne Shanté
- Mahershala AliCross
- Nia LongMs. Peggy
- Elvis NolascoRay
- Shenell EdmondsRanita
- Adam HorovitzAttorney Schwartz
- Germar Terrell GardnerAntwan
- Terrence ShinglerBig John
- Nigel A. FullertonBiz
- Kristin DodsonClassmate #1
Recommendations
- 90
The Hollywood Reporter
Adams displays terrific range and an incandescent screen presence as she effortlessly incarnates Shante over a 10-year period, from puberty to young motherhood. - 80
TheWrap
A well-acted, inspiring story of female empowerment, the captivating “Roxanne Roxanne” is as much about survival and the bonds of family as it is about busting rhymes. - 80
Variety
It’s a vivid and unusually honest drama about the pain and bravado that were the fuel of hip-hop. - 80
Los Angeles Times
A film that breaks the musical biopic mold in ways that are sometimes frustrating and frequently exhilarating. - 75
The Film Stage
Telling this story with a deep specificity, Larnell does the artist proud by artfully using his camera to capture a woman forging her identity through her art. He and Adams make a formidable team and finely stamp their own mark on the hip-hop movie genre. - 75
The A.V. Club
By shaping Roxanne Roxanne as a character profile, Larnell accentuates his actors’ performances and crafts a nuanced community portrait, two strengths exhibited in his delightful first feature, "Cronies." - 70
The New York Times
What distinguishes Roxanne Roxanne, a sensitively observed new movie with a dynamite performance by Chanté Adams, is that it marries a traditional hip-hop biopic, a form long dominated by male rappers, with a more idiosyncratic and deeply felt slice of life. - 63
Slant Magazine
One presumes that Michael Lerner's sense of emphasis is meant to humanize Shanté, defining her apart from the fame she achieved, but this stratagem backfires as Roxanne Roxanne mires itself in scenes of speechifying domestic strife.
