Amazing movie

Rating: 9/10 (13 March 2019)

Everyone somewhat has an hip-hop culture is like: drugs, money, and rapping. However, 8 mile goes way more in depth than that. It shows the real struggles that the main character, Jimmy goes through not only to be respected as a white rapper but just to support himself. It shows not only the physical but mental barriers that he has to go through to achieve his goals. It doesn't only focus on the struggles he faces while rapping but the struggles he faces daily at work and at home.
This movie focuses on Jimmy Smith Jr. (Eminem) as he struggles to try and achieve his dream while dealing with problems at home and work. He had to move back home with his alcoholic mom, her new boyfriend, and his little sister, Lily, he doesn't have a car because he gave it to his ex girlfriend, and he has a bad job at a stamping plant. To make matters worse, his dream, to become a rapper, seems nearly impossible. He has skills but nobody will even listen to him because he's white and nobody around him thinks he can rap except for his friends. Throughout the movie, Jimmy has to take care of problems at home and work while trying to gain respect in the hip-hop community in Detroit.
8 mile is something different. Unlike most movies about celebrities' lives, (even though this movie is loosely based on Eminem's life) this movie doesn't focus on the person becoming famous, it focuses on the struggles it takes to be recognized even on a very small scale. Given the cast and premise, you'd probably expect 8 Mile to be an over-exaggerated version of hip-hop culture or a movie just showing how great Eminem is. However, this movie is neither of those things. It's not even about Eminem, although it does loosely follow his life. There's also the fact that this movie does a great job of realistically portraying hip-hop culture. The cinematography is perfect, it's mainly shot in Detroit and has lots of nitty gritty shots that fit the whole, almost gray tone of the majority of the movie, going well with the natural, realistic feeling the movie has.
Of course, like every movie, it has its flaws, but 8 Mile definitely doesn't have many. The grayness and bleakness can be a little overshadowing and the "villians" in the movie, the "Free World" are perhaps a little over exaggerated but the solid acting makes up for it.
Not to mention, probably my favorite part, 8 Mile has rapping, lots of it. Obviously, this is a main plot of the film but it's integrated in a way that it fits in with the rest of the film. The rapping is so amazingly done, the way the actors deliver their lines makes it feel like it's not scripted and they are real people actually trying to win the rap battles. The best part is with Eminem's character and how they integrated just the character, not him into the it, the rapping happens because it must happen to these characters at this time, not because Eminem is a rapper. Also, it's always great to watch someone just get totally roasted which happens constantly throughout the movie, not just to other character's but to Jimmy (Eminem) as well. It's also a plus that Eminem does a great job portraying Jimmy Smith throughout the film. In no doubt because he resembles that character.
All in all, 8 Mile is a great movie. Sure, sometimes it's a little bleak but the great acting and real- life feeling of the film more than make up for it. I'd recommend this movie if you like the Rocky movies, or if you've watched and enjoyed movies like Straight Outta Compton, Notorious, All Eyez on Me and if you're a fan of hip-hop. Although, I would really recommend this movie for anyone who wants to watch just a good movie, I think anyone would enjoy this movie, it's that great.