Laugh-Out-Loud Bad

Rating: 1/10 (7 April 2007)

This movie is so bad you're actually laughing throughout. By the end, the whole thing's spiraled into such a huge clichÃ© about "how tough things are on the streets" that you're watching just to see what other silly line is going to come out of the actors' mouths. It should become a cult favorite the way "Showgirls" has. The dialog is utterly ridiculous, none of the actors deliver performances that are anywhere near believable and Kim Basinger as Eminem's Mom??? How the heck did that get by the studio? Eminem is just plain awful in this role (if anyone ever gets hold of Conan O'Brien's spoof of it, they should post it on You Tube). I'm not convinced he's a bad actor because I think the blame on this one goes to director Curtis Hanson and writer Scott Silver who should know better. But we're supposed to believe that Eminem is some hard-ass white rapper from the tough streets of Detroit. The sad part is Eminem IS from the same area this film is about yet he's so unconvincing that you wonder if he even grew up there. Brittany Murphy turns out to be the worst of them all, however, turning in a performance on par with Sanjaya's singing on "American Idol" -- you cringe every time she has to say something. This role must have been an attractive one for her and probably helped her career but if I was her I'd mention it as little as possible in conversation because it shows the ugly side to her acting. Really bad film!