As a movie, Krush Groove is not great. The plot is kind of a hodge-podgey riff on Russell Simmons and the Def Jam Records story, with a fresh-faced Blair Underwood as "Russell Walker" and yet Run (Joseph Simmons) is still playing his brother and Russell Simmons himself has a part in the movie, so it's kind of weird and meta that way. Also Rick Rubin is there as, apparently, himself. There are some clichés and it doesn't seem like a very realistic portrayal of the record industry and there are weird detours and bad acting and cringeworthy moments ("I think he's gay" is put forth as the ultimate dismissal). And yet, it's not terrible either. It's a reasonably entertaining diversion for an hour and a half, thanks largely to the musical portions. Sheila E, Run DMC, The Fat Boys, Kurtis Blow, New Edition, Beastie Boys, and a very brief appearance by LL Cool J (who is seen "auditioning" despite the fact that signage earlier in the film names him as already being a major draw... whoops!) all turn in lively, excellent performances. The film especially got me interested in The Fat Boys, who I ignored during their heyday, writing them off as a novelty act. But the songs they do here are pretty strong.
As I said, there's some poor acting, but Run and Sheila E are both surprisingly decent. I'd say Run even handles it better than Underwood, who comes off rather too angsty.
One more note: as a fan of House Party, I was pleased to see Full Force here as well, again appearing as heavies. Rating: Good (75)