Got to see movie filled with battles of a different kind!

Rating: Null/10 (1 December 2004)

8 Mile is a great movie combining hip hop music and an abbreviated autobiography of Eminem's life in Detroit. It is the story of a white boy's struggles to make it in the hip hop work of music that is dominated mostly by African Americans, while living in the tough streets of Detroit.
8 Mile is in part about the life of Rabbit, who is played by the white hip hop rapper Eminem, while Rabbit's mother is played by Kim Basinger.
Eminem plays a character similar to his own life. The film talks about Eminem's struggle to live a hard life in the tough streets of Detroit. Eminem is forced to move back into a trailer where his mother (Kim Basinger) lives in the white ghetto neighborhood of 8 Mile trailer park.
During the film, Eminem faces different struggles. One struggle that Eminem is faced with is not only dealing with trying to get a demo made of him rapping so that he can get a recording deal. One scene of the film, shows Eminem's struggle when he is in the restroom of the Shelter, preparing himself for the rap battle. This battle involves a lyrical war between want-to-be rap artists. In the restroom, there are no windows and the graffiti on the walls give the appearance that the walls are closing in. Also, the lighting in the Shelter before Eminem's opportunity to battle, is low key lighting and there is hardly any color used in the scene as far as the cast's clothing. Low key lighting is generally used in gangster films and this film is in a sense a gangster film.
Another struggle that Eminem's character deals with is a sense of life closing in on him or confining him. The feeling of confinement is felt throughout the movie. Tight frame shots are used throughout the film. One tight frame shot is while Eminem and Kim Basinger are in the trailer. When some people see a trailer, they may envision closeness, no room to move, or confinement.
During the film, there are many profile shots of Eminem. These shots are used to show a character lost in thought. Going back to the bathroom scene in the beginning of the film, Eminem's profile is shot while he is deep in thought and concentrating on his lyrics and rhymes he wants to use in the battle. Another profile shot is while Eminem is sitting on a bus, again deep in thought.
While the film 8 Mile was not totally true in terms of Eminem's life, some aspects are factual.
As far as film comparisons, 8 Mile is similar to the film directed by Charles Stone, III. That film is named Drumline. It is a movie about Devon Miles, played by Nick Cannon. Nick Cannon struggles to make it to the drumline of a Southern University marching band. Like 8 Mile, Drumline battles not with guns or violence, but with music (instrumental and lyrical).
Although Eminem struggles throughout his life and his role in the film, he shows that barriers can be broken and that a white boy from the ghetto of Detroit can rap in the world of African American hip hop.