Points of View on 8 MILE

Rating: 5/10 (1 December 2002)

I saw him in concert. I even bought his new CD this past summer. But the movie kind of fell short of winning me over. Some of it felt more like a PR campaign than a movie.
To combat Eminem's rep of being a bad role model for kids, the movie shows him concerned for what his little sister sees. For the flack he got over making homosexual remarks, the movie shows him using his rapping skills to defend a gay co-worker. But, to keep his street cred, he then fires a paintball gun at a parked police cruiser to show he's still a young buck with edge.
As far as his relationship with his buddies, that was kind of odd how he never really seemed to respect them. It's as if they were just people he rode with on the bus - and he never got too close because he planned to get off at the next stop. Even after he insulted them, they still treated him like some kind of superstar instead of smacking him across the mouth and flying without him for a while.
But the oddest part of the movie was Brittany Murphy's character. She's a wonderful actress. But, the motive for her character thinking he's so great based on the little she observed of him was a stretch.
They really could have had fun with her character by making her a puppet who was being used by the threatening posse to entice B-Rabbit to do a deal with them. That way, it shows two ways to get what you want: To want the dream so bad that you'd sell yourself and do anything... or to go your own way and keep your integrity. That could have been a good story point.
Even after B-Rabbit finds his new lover having sex with his supposed friend, there was a fist fight between the males but never a frank discussion between man and woman about what happened, why it happened, and what this meant.
In a further blow to his manhood, had his mother not been totally lucky and won bingo, he, his mom, and his little sister would have been evicted from their trailer. I guess the bingo solution was easier (and better for Em's fans) than showing B-Rabbit having no money to keep them from getting evicted.
But what the hell. It was fun anyway. :}