“The Defiant Ones” is a Must-See Documentary About American Dreamers
HBO’s new documentary about Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine gives viewers a trip through the music industry.

Originally published on UTIOM.
The Defiant Ones is a 1958 United Artists film about two men, one black and one white, who escape prison while chained together. Despite their many differences, the two are forced to work together in their bid to achieve the freedom they dream of.
The Defiant Ones is a 2017 Home Box Office documentary about two men, one black and one white, who escape their working class upbringings. Despite their many differences, the two work together two achieve their version of the American Dream.
Thankfully, the latter doesn’t end in the same way as the former, with one man dying in the other’s arms, but the similarities are still there if you look. This four-part documentary parallels the rise of artist-turned-producer-turned-business magnate Andre “Dr. Dre” Young and engineer-turned-producer-turned-business magnate Jimmy Iovine.
It’s easy for rags-to-riches tales such as this one to turn into propaganda for the myth of American social and economic mobility. But despite reading at some points like a modern-day Horatio Alger novel, The Defiant Ones is very clear from opening that the American Dream is a fantasy, available to only a very few, with luck playing as much of a role as talent or effort. But the two men at the center of this four-part, three-decade long tour of the music industry had clearly found the winning tickets.
Even still, the true value of the documentary is not in its telling of the core stories. The main narrative of the documentary centers on Dre’s and Iovine’s time at Interscope and their dealing with NWA and Death Row. But this is a story that has been mined many times over, and there’s little revealed here that can’t be found in any number of books, movies, or interviews. The value of this specific documentary is found in the Forrest Gump-esque trip through the industry the viewer goes on, and the smaller side narratives that are uncovered along the way. The supporting cast that exists within the gravitational pull of the two main actors may lack the industry-defining influence of Dre and Iovine, but still match them in star power.
Some of these best parts include the story of Iovine’s romance with Stevie Nicks while producing an album for Tom Petty, and Eminem recounting how he nearly peed his pants the first time he met Dre. There was also the time that Jimmy, while working on U2’s Rattle and Hum, wore out the recording device at take #269. And when Snoop Dogg recounted how he didn’t want to be on the cover of Rolling Stone; he had never heard of it, and wanted to do cover story for The Source instead. Footage from the first time Dr. Dre ever publicly DJ’d is certainly a highlight. And the image of Iovine and Suge Knight hiding out in a diner for hours trying to avoid record executives can’t help but bring a smile.
And it’s not just the charming vignettes, but also the most tense and emotional scenes that come from the characters orbiting the main narrative. The documentary includes a moment with Diddy re-watching footage from the 1995 Source Awards, at which Suge Knight infamously proclaimed, “Any artist that want to be an artist, and want to stay a star, and don’t want to worry about the executive producer tryna be all in the video, all on the record, dancing, come to Death Row!”
It’s clear on his face that, even all these years later, Diddy is not quite over the slight. But the one truly gutting scene is the retelling of the story of Tracy Curry, The D.O.C. Even a quarter century after it was recorded, his talent and charisma still shine through in the samples of his work played throughout the documentary. But then, D.O.C. opens his mouth, and we hear the gravelly voice that he’s been stuck with since a terrible car accident in the most nascent stage of his music career. Though it only exists as an aside in the second of four parts of this epic documentary, I know his story is the one that will stick with me the longest.
If you come into this documentary unfamiliar with the work of Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine, and Interscope, you’ll probably be stunned by the rolodex of international acts whose careers these two breathed life into. From Springsteen to Lady Gaga, No Doubt to the Black Eyed Peas, it would be all but impossible to have lived without the works of these two reaching your ears at some point. And for those that follow the industry, who may already know the many adventures of Dre and Iovine, there’s more than enough intimate moments and fun facts throughout to keep you entertained (my personal favorite: the keytarist from World Class Wreckin’ Cru never actually played the keytar; he just stood there the whole time and pretended).
The film can be sprawling, approaching the five-hour mark if taken all at once. And it still leaves you with certain parts that feel lacking (specifically regarding the public discussions around rap music in the 1990s and the fall of record companies as arbiters of who gets air time). But The Defiant Ones is a solid entry in a genre that can sometime feel less than authentic. If you can ignore the half-hour segment of Dre and Iovine waxing poetic over how great Apple and Beats are, you’re still left with a memorable story of two men whose lives helped define multiple generations of music, and thus the lives of those that listened to them.

