On The Come Up: Book Vs Movie review

On the come-up, the movie is an adaptation of a book with the same title.

On the come-up is written by Angie Thomas, author of world wide sensation The Hate You Give(THUG).

On the Come up Summary.

The book as well as the movie focuses on Brianna Lawson, often referred to as Bri or Lil’ Law, a 16 year old girl whose dream is to become a recognized rapper in the hip-hop industry.

 The story is set in the fictional town of Garden Heights (The Hate You Give is also set in Garden Heights, On the come-up shouldn’t be confused as a sequel to The Hate You Give as the only  connection between these two stories are the locations in which they are told)

Brianna is set to follow in her father’s footsteps, an underground rap legend popularly known as Lawless who died as a result of gang violence. A year after her father’s death, her mom Jay becomes a drug addict and leaves her and older brother, Trey to be cared for by their grandparents. 

A few years later Bri and her brother Trey move back in with their now sober mother, Although life isn’t that rosey, they make do with what they can, Jay is working as a secretary in church while Trey worked at a pizza shop.

Things become harder for them and this is what motivated her tomoush her career further.

Despite all the odds stacked against her, her dreams eventually become a reality. In the process she makes some bad choices which she later corrects as the story progresses.

On the come-up movie release date

The movie was released on the 23rd of September 2022.  Sanaa Lathan makes her directing debut in this movie, She also plays the role of Jay, Bri’s mother.

On the come up book/ movie review

“You’ll never silence me and you’ll never kill my dream,

Just recognize when you say brilliant that you’re 

also saying Bri”

 This book had me hooked from the start, I got in with a lot of expectations, although not all were met, it was a fascinating read nonetheless.

Angie Thomas did an amazing job of telling Bri’s story, while addressing themes such as racism, prejudice, drugs, poverty, social injustice and the struggles of the black community.

Bri’s character was one I resonated with, I understood the pain she felt seeing her family work so hard yet earn so little, I understood how important her dreams meant to her, and how hard it is fighting for a spot in a male dominated industry.  

This book was a rollercoaster of emotions, I smiled, laughed and was downright sad as well.

On the come up portrays drugs and the dangers of drug abuse and the prejudice the black community faces. 

The situation between the school’s security guards and Bri is clearly one of such instances as Long and Tate only seem to have a prejudice against blacks and Latinos.

She is termed aggressive and confrontational and I couldn’t agree more, she was brash, harsh and rude as well. I found it hard to connect with her thought process, which is understandable as she was a very impulsive teenager.

One thing I thoroughly enjoyed was how she came up with her lines and made them rhyme, you could tell the author must be a very good lyricist to come up ( see what I  did there) with those rhymes. Another thing I also enjoyed was the rap battles, you could see that Bri is really talented.

I absolutely loved how family dynamics come to play in this story even though most of the time the protagonist found it hard to listen to her family’s advice which was infuriating to me.

 

One of the most important parts of the story for me was Bri deciding the kind of person she wants to be, choosing the morals she’d like to uphold.

On the come up movie review:

For me the movie failed to capture the full essence of the book.  Rather than focusing on the problems plaguing the black community, It shed more light on the musical (hip-hop) aspect, which would have been fine if that was all the book represents.

The movie tried to marry the entirety of the book but failed to, a two hour film wouldn’t be enough to do justice to Angie Thomas masterpiece.

There are different themes which the book explains that seemed rushed in the movie.

It failed to show the growth of Bri’s romantic relationship. We only managed to see a brief scene of Sonny’s queer romance. The scenes appeared to be recycling the same locations, forgetting that the whole neighborhood of Garden Heights is an integral part of the story.

 On the other hand Jamila Gray( Bri) aced the role, I felt like she was able to completely embody the character, and deliver her rhymes perfectly.

Nevertheless it’s still a nice movie to watch.

About The Author

Ilo Reuphina is a Nigerian freelance

writer and a student of Veterinary Medicine.

She is often found with her head stuck between pages when not writing. Her hobbies include binge-watching anime or a TV series, hiking and singing.

She often goes by the pen name Ru writes.