Pretty good semi-autobiographical drama, but could have been better

Rating: 7/10 (14 March 2004)

Being that this is his first big role in a feature film, I was excited to see how well Eminem could act. I'm happy to say that he pulls it off perfectly. I didn't even think about that it was Eminem in the lead role, as he portrays his character perfectly. Even though it's similar to his real personality, it must have been hard for him. The rest of the actors mostly perform well too, actually pretty much everybody except Kim Basinger is completely believable. Unfortunately, she seems a bit out of place in this film, and she didn't portray her character too believably, in my opinion. The plot is interesting and keeps your attention, for the duration of the film. The characters are all believable. The cinematography is excellent; it really makes you feel that you're there, in every single scene, in every battle. Being a rap fan, I really enjoyed the rap music aspect of the film too, though I guess people who aren't into rap will dislike big parts of the film. I also felt that the ex-girlfriend subplot was a bit underdeveloped; it could have been take a bit further. Apart from that, and the acting of Kim Basinger, this couldn't have been much better. I really liked that it wasn't entirely autobiographical, that would have been predictable and probably boring, especially for us fans of Eminem who know his background well. I like what they did with the theme, and where they took the plot. Overall, a pretty good drama that could have been better. I'd recommend this to most fans of dramas, and fans of hip-hop/rap/Eminem. 7/10