impressive acting debut

Rating: Null/10 (29 March 2003)

Rapper Eminem makes a spectacular screen debut in `8 Mile,' a film designed to showcase the performer's talents as singer, songwriter and, now, actor.

In this semi-autobiographical tale, Eminem plays a young white rapper named Jimmy who is struggling to achieve respectability and recognition in an area dominated almost exclusively by black artists. We've seen this story before in films ranging from `The Hustler' to `The Cincinnati Kid' to `Rocky': the hotshot, talented newcomer attempts to make a name for himself in some specialized area (be it pool, poker, boxing or rapping) by challenging and defeating the highly respected and established reigning champ. In terms of plotting, `8 Mile' offers little that is new or exciting, but what makes the movie work is the fine sense of detail and texture that writer Scott Silver and director Curtis Hanson bring to the world they are showing us. Set in 1995 Detroit, the film superbly captures the unmitigated bleakness of its urban setting: from the burnt-out, abandoned buildings to the graffiti-covered walls to the dank, cavernous music clubs to the rundown trailer parks. Jimmy is caught in a world that offers the poor working class stiff little opportunity for hopes and dreams beyond those he can make for himself - and Jimmy has found rap music to be the best chance for his ticket out. Yet, Jimmy is no pie-in-the-sky idealist. He knows that he can't afford to put all his eggs into one basket and so he remains levelheaded and pragmatic in his aspirations and goals. Beyond the obvious handicap of his skin color, Jimmy is also having to cope with a crumbling relationship, an alcoholic mother, her abusive boyfriend and some `concerned' parties who, despite what they may say, may not always have Jimmy's best interest at heart.
Each of these characters has the potential to become nothing more than a hokey stereotype, but the acting and the writing keep most of it real most of the time. Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Britanny Murphy and several others all turn in fine performances in their roles, but it is Eminem himself who makes the film work. Jimmy, despite all the frustration and rage smoldering under the surface, comes across as a decent guy who wants to make something of himself and to help those people who mean the most to him in the process. Eminem is a natural on the screen, and it will be interesting to see if he will be able to so successfully inhabit a character who is not so carefully tailored to fit his ready-made persona. My suspicion is that he will, though only time - and his next few roles - will tell.

`8 Mile' affords a fascinating glimpse into a subculture that many of us have hitherto viewed only from the outside. Especially intriguing are the `hip-hop battles,' wherein rappers come on stage and challenge one another to perform spontaneous mutual put-downs, with the audience getting to determine the contest's winner. No matter what one may feel about rap music itself, one has to admire the talent involved in composing these rhyming verses extemporaneously. The music may sometimes be execrable, but the love of language that pours forth out of the mouths of these young practitioners is actually quite encouraging and captivating (though one wishes that that talent would be channeled in a more positive direction at times).

An interesting side note: at one point, Jimmy recites a rap defending a homosexual co-worker. After all the bad blood that has gone down between Eminem and the gay community in the past, I wonder if this is the rapper's attempt to make peace and bury the hatchet. If so, it is a gesture well worth making.