Eminem Can Act

Rating: 8/10 (7 September 2012)

8 mile is a stretch of urban decay in Detroit. The rapper Eminem grew up there in a predominantly black neighborhood, which makes for a great story. A white kid struggling to make a career in a place where he doesn't belong. Here, he is Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith, and he lives in a trailer with his mother, Stephanie(Kim Basinger), his sister, Lily, and mom's boyfriend, Greg; this is one screwed up family; not exactly the Waltons. A club nearby has rap contests, and on his first try, he chokes up and leaves the stage a failure. He works at a factory, doing as many hours as possible, to save enough money to buy a house. On his off time, he still works on his music in preparation for a tournament at the club against other rappers. It all leads to the inevitable showdown in which Rabbit must find the weak points of his opponent to his advantage. Eminem proves to have a natural charisma on screen, and he makes Eight Mile work as a believable biopic.