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8 MILE Send This Review to a Friend
Rapper Eminem is starring in a movie that reaches beyond the rap world that made him famous and into the kind of social milieu that has spawned the entertainment form and more specifically Eminem's talent and success. In "8 Mile," directed by Curtis Hanson and chosen among the top films to showcase by the Toronto International Film Festival 2002, Eminem plays struggling young Jimmy Smith, Jr., nicknamed Rabbit, but one can take this as a dramatic approximation of his own story. As an actor, he does a job so intriguing as to make one wonder what he could play in a role removed from the world he has known.
The picture we get in the screenplay by Scott Silver is of a young Detroit man from a trashy white neighborhood, with Kim Basinger convincing as his poverty-ridden, mess of a mom Stephanie, trying to raise her son and her cute little daughter. Stephanie is in a destructive relationship with a guy whom Rabbit despises but hangs on in hope that he can solve her financial problems when he gets an insurance settlement. Rabbit doesn't earn enough to have his own digs and he has just broken up with his girlfriend. But he's honing his rap skills, born of his anger and defiance of the hand society has dealt him and others. He pals around with African-American buddies, including Future (Mekhi Phifer), who runs rap face-offs and has faith in Rabbit. The ease of the white-black friendships is intriguing, and at the same time emphasizes the oddity of a white rapper in the crowd.
The film beats with a rap heart, with cinematography and music to match. But it is Eminem who gives the movie its soul. He has a commanding presence by being low key, but his eyes and his manner tell us that he is coiled and ready to spring. We see this in his temper outbursts, his sexual glances at the seductive Alex, played by Brittany Murphy, who expresses faith in him. He also demonstrates a gentle side in the affection he shows his kid sister. When he summons the courage to give his all in a rap contest face to face with opponents whom he must denigrate in rap before a mostly African-American crowd, Eminem provides the fireworks and verbal skill that show why he has made it so big. He is very likable on screen and since he rations the emotions he projects, he allows us to read what we will into him.
The film gets a bit tedious with the quarrelling between rivals, but fortunately there's not too much of that, and the mischief to which Eminem and his pals get up to is amusing. But it is a wonder Rabbit can come out of the dangerous environment alive. Hanson succeeds in showing us the frustrations of Rabbit and his buddies, and the underlying desperation to find ways to break out of their deprivations rather than stay losers, and for that reason filmgoers who don't think they'd enjoy a movie dealing with rap might find themselves surprised at how much they could be drawn into "8 Mile." A Universal Pictures release.
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