ironhorse_iv Review of 8 Mile

8 Mile (2002)

You can lose yourself in 8-Mile. It's a pretty good movie.

[7/10 · 22 June 2014]

It's time for a Battle! Directed by Curtis Hanson, the movie is a semi-autobiographical account of Eminem's early years in Detroit, struggling to make ends meet and get his rap career off the ground. The film stars Eminem as Jimmy "B-Rabbit' Smith, whom life isn't going anywhere. He can't seem to get any respect among with his peers after choking in a previous rap battle tournament. The only way, he could show the world, he meets business, is to sign up for a new rap battle and challenge the best rapper in Detroit, Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie), the leader of the local famous rap group gang 'Free World' and win it all. Will he win it? You got to watch it to find out. Without spoiling too much of the movie, the movie borderlines Eminem real life. Instead of the crazy Eminem Slim Shady that spit out hateful, violent, and somewhat silly lyrics, ranging from killing his wife, homophobia to making jokes about celebs. You really get a motivational type of a film about going after your dreams. You really see, Eminem as Jimmy grow into a positive responsibility for the direction of his life. It was very mature. Honestly, I don't think this movie would had work, if it's was all about moaning and groaning Slim Shady. I glad, Eminem took this seriously. After all, after this movie, his music had gotten more serious, and less Slim Shady like. Eminem even took an Oscar for Best Song that year for "Lose Yourself". It was the first time a rap/hip-hop song win an Academy Award reward. That's a big deal! Is Eminem, the best rapper? It's up in the air, depending what you think is music. After all, 2005's Encore & 2009's Relapse were some of his worst albums ever. Thank God for 2010's Recovery. But, it's still hard not to find yourself, jamming to "Lose Yourself" when you need a boost in your life. You can't help seeing how great, the raps were written in the film. My favorite one had to be the courtyard battle with the Xhibit cameo. Yeah, most of the raps were pretty funny and clever, both from Eminem and the lyrics from his real life friends, playing opponents like Proof who play Lil' Tic in the film. The acting is pretty good, all around. Eminem has never acted before this, but regardless of how 'autobiographical' the material may be, he did a great job. The supporting cast was pretty good for the most part. Mad props go to Mekhi Phifer as Jimmy's mentor, Future. Brittany Murphy as Alex, Jimmy's love-interest is mostly a miss than a hit for me. I don't find her attractive. Eminem-Murphy love scene in the plant was bit out of place. Taryn Manning's role as the ex-girlfriend is almost unnecessary. The only female character that really matter in this film, is the alcoholic mother (Kim Basinger) as she play a great dealt in Eminem's life. I did find the whole sub-plot of her losing her home, a bit underdeveloped, as surprising near the climax, she miraculous won the bingo in a deus ex machina like fashion. I did love the symbolism of the burning house in the state of present day Detroit. Indeed the movie demonstrates processes of race, class, and segregation in the urban lower socio-economic environment. Indeed, it's hard to be proud of your neighborhood, when there are streets upon streets of abandoned building where people do drugs, murder, and loot. You really see how economic devastation and de-industrialization can hurt a city. Most of the movie is how much living in Detroit sucks type patting, until the predictable Rocky style final battle. It should had been shorter than its 110 minute run time. Honestly, another thing that bug me is that the movie is place in 1995's Detroit, but there is little to no mention of the time period. They should just save money and claim it was present day, because when I first saw it, I thought it was year 2002 in the settling. For an Eminem movie, it's pretty tame in the language and the violence. Don't get me wrong, it's R Rating for a reason, but I really think the producers were going for a PG-13 rating here. Yes, there's a lot of harsh language, but it didn't seem oddly place. Overall: If you're looking for a good urban underdog movie. You found one.