Utterly engaging

Rating: Null/10 (20 June 2004)

When music stars make the transition to movie making, the results have been eclectic to say the least. David Bowie was surreal in the mind-bending Labyrinth, Madonna has been decent in her movies in general (With the exception of the panned Swept Away), and there was the dreadful Crossroads with Britney Spears. S Club 7 Seeing Double was another example of a shocking attempt at bridging the gap between music and film.
Bearing all this in mind it would be highly understandable to be somewhat skeptical of 8 Mile given it stars Eminem in his first big-screen role. The supporting cast is hardly strong (With the exception of Kim Basinger) clearly designed to give him the limelight, so ultimately the quality of the movie depends on him. However, the doubters, after watching this, would surely be willing to consume humble pie because 8 Mile is a thoroughly enthralling story which is universally well acted and extremely well directed.
Eminem is essentially himself in this, though his name is Rabbit. He plays a trailer-trash young man who's locked in the slums by circumstance, and who is trying to use rap/hip hop as a vehicle to escape. Sure, it's been done before, albeit not this exact setting, but the lack of originality in premise is more than made up for by the quality of the acting, and the way the story is told. In his first film, Eminem is breathtaking. Yes, he might not have had to do a lot of research into the part due to his clear familiarity with the situation, but just because he empathises with it does not automatically make him a good actor in front of a camera.
The movie opens with a rap battle, where 2 rappers try to outwit each other in front of an audience. Rabbit is up next but freezes on stage and experiences ridicule from his peers as a result. The rest of the movie sees him struggle to make ends meet, hold down a job, keep his family together, attempt to regain his reputation and all the while never being sure what tomorrow holds.
Britney Murphy plays his love interest, but it isn't exactly a match made in heaven and the story does a good job of conveying her as apparently out of his league initially before making us realise she's the same as the rest of them, albeit with a hint of glamour.
Director Curtis Hanson does a terrific job with this film, making it fast and dynamic, but not too quick as to be incomprehendable, though he *is* guilty of slightly overdoing the stereotyping, which is prominent throughout.
Generally it is extremely worth seeing, and although the ending is pretty predictable it is still well made.
Good job.