"It's poetry in motion like Freddie Roach when he's quotin' Shake-speare, so what if insults are revoltin'"

Rating: 10/10 (14 August 2016)

Once again I'm not able to write an objective review. I've been listening to Eminem since I was twelve. Many of his lyrics are stored right in my brain. His Infinite from 1996. is what made me a hip-hop fan even to this day.
This autobiographical music drama is going to exhilarate Em's fans as well as hip-hop fans. Some others may find this movie boring or even ridiculous. When it comes to acting Eminem did a pretty good job for a rapper. I remember him speaking how hard he had worked in order to impersonate B-Rabbit. He had very little sleep (maybe few hours a day), took sleeping pills, wrote lyrics on set in spare time, had to drive long mileage to his place and back to the set. His fans know him well: if he's passionate about something he'll act almost like an addict.
Other B-Rabbit's crew members did a solid job in acting. They were fun to watch and looked like they knew each other for years; even his opponents! I can only imagine Em's fans seeing B-Rabbit (Eminem) going toe-to-toe in a rap battle with Lil' Tic (Proof, R.I.P.) who was Eminem's best friend and amazing hype man. His fans know Proof's death almost ruined Em's career and sadly almost ended his life. Seeing them on stage, years after Proof passed away, makes me melancholic about early 2000's when Dre, D12 and Em swept the whole world with funky and violent Slim Shady as a leader. Look at his raw energy when he performed Square Dance (his concert intro theme) on Anger Management Tour 2002! You can clearly see the difference now without Proof. Back to the movie.
When I was a teenage boy I almost fell in love with Alex (Brittany Murphy, R.I.P.). She was just to cute and cool! That short haired blonde girl played B-Rabbits girlfriend and did it amazingly; who can forget her cool, mellow swagger? Kim Basinger played Stephanie Smith, Em's mother he wrote so much about. She played his mother exactly as I had seen her from Em's songs. He's now sorry for writing "Cleaning Out My Closet" and "no more plays that song on shows and cringes every time it's on the radio" (Headlights ft. Nate Ruess). Michael Shannon (now starring in Midnight Special, 2016.) played Greg Buehl, his mother's boyfriend for whom B-Rabbit sings "He's tapping my mom and we're almost the same age". In reality, Michale is two years younger that Marshall.
Now the music for which 8 mile won an Oscar. Opening scene hi-hats from Mobb Deep's Shook Ones pt.2 stick with me permanently. Feel Me Flow played by Naughty by Nature as well. What about Outkast's Players Ball, The Pharcyde's Runnin', Wu Tang Clan's C.R.E.A.M, Biggie's Juicy and many others? Not to mention first hip-hop song ever to win Academy Awards - Lose Yourself. 8 mile's soundtrack will delight all hip-hop fans and make them nod their heads.
Story itself will be very familiar to those listening to Em. It's truly inspiring and in that "stands head, shoulders and heart above other movies made that year" as Joe Morgenstern from Wall Street Journal notes. It's a story about passion for something. And that's Em's life story. Now, fourteen years after movie was made, Eminem's made such success and has won so many prizes that's it very hard to list all of them. Wikipedia notes he won 155 prizes and was nominated for 311 on them. He's won 15 Grammy awards and was nominated for 43 more. Sold more than 120 million albums. He's now 44 and still doesn't look like giving up or doing something else.
In conclusion: 8 mile is a modern poetry in motion for which hip-hop fans will forever be grateful. Great punch lines and multies in wintry 1995. Detroit? You've gotta love it.