Surprisingly spiritual Hollywood film - Spoilers

Rating: Null/10 (23 April 2003)

I was pleased and surprised by 8 Mile. I'm not a fan of Eminem, so that it wasn't initally drew me to this film. I was amazed at the acting- I thought he did a brilliant job, basically playing himself. The story was well-written and follows B. Rabbit through his miserable life on the wrong side of the 8 Mile Road in Detroit. The film seems to follow Paul Schrader's model for a Transcendental film. It is full of the 'everyday,' the mundane things that make our lives what they are. There is definite disparity, conflicts and confusions within Rabbit's daily life. And the ending is amazing; he simply walks away from the competion that he has just won so that he can go back to work. And that's the end. This isn't really the story of a rising rap star, nor is it a love story, as it seemed to be billed. It is rather the story of someone overcoming in daily life without really resolving any of the true problems that plague him. The film is actually deeply spiritual (I know that not everyone will agree with me) but I will argue to say that this is the most transcendent film that I've seen released in awhile.