Better than I would have expected

Rating: 5/10 (7 October 2006)

I am a 49 year old father with teenage children, so I am way outside of the demographic that this movie was meant for, but I have seen it twice, the second time just last night, and I found it to be compelling and surprisingly uplifting. I have no interest in hip hop and I find some of Eminem's songs and subject matter to be offensive at times but there is no denying that he is a talented man, and he can act as well. Having said that, you have to bear in mind that he was basically playing the part of himself in this movie, but he does have a lot of presence on the screen, and a viewer like myself can sympathise with the character he is playing, not because I am a fan, (as would be the case with a lot of people), but because of his ability as an actor to move the audience and involve them in his character's world. This was a movie that made me think, and it showed a side of life that is unfamiliar to me, so if I had gained nothing else from it, those two things would have made it worth watching, but there was a lot more to it than that. In the final "rap battle", if that is the correct term, I thought it was great the way Rabbit exposed the "Free World" for the losers that they were, with wit and style. I doubt if this was the message he or the movie were trying to get across, but he showed that you can get even with someone without having to beat the sh*t out of them, as they had done to him the previous night. It is a great scene.
I don't think I'll ever be a fan of Eminem, but I hear my son playing his CD's all the time, and I have to respect his ability as a song writer and performer. I was surprised to have gained so much from a movie like this, and I will probably watch it again some time.