Probably best for people who know much about rap and it's subculture

Rating: 7/10 (6 September 2005)

Even though I can appreciate a rap song so now and then, I can't say that I'm a big fan of the genre. But every kind of music has its idols and I guess most people have heard of Eminem before - although that hasn't always got something to do with his music. When this movie was released over here, I didn't go to the cinema to watch it, but decided to wait until it was shown on television. I didn't want to spend my money on a movie that told the life of a poor white kid who became a famous rapper, someone who I didn't think I could care for much. But now that it was finally shown, I gave it a try.
Jimmy 'B-Rabbit' is a white kid who wants to become a famous rapper. But he has a lot of problems that might keep him from becoming well-known. Not only does he get incredibly nervous when he has to perform in some rap battles, he also has a hard time during the rest of his life. His girlfriend told him she's pregnant and that's why he dumped her, his mom is an alcoholic who lives in a shabby trailer, his job's a dead end,... But then things finally seem to improve when he meets Alex, a girl who wants to leave the slums of Detroit to become a model in New York, and someone promises him to help him with his demo. However, is it all as nice as he hopes it will be, or will this become just another setback?
Even though it's said to be a completely fictional story, I guess there is a lot of Eminem's life that has been used as a source of inspiration for this movie. A young white rapper with a lot of difficulties to get to the top, problems with his mom,... that sounds a lot like what I've already heard about him. Does that mean that this movie isn't any good then? No, certainly not, this is a very decent drama that doesn't leave much to the imagination when it comes to all the misery, but which really does a good job in showing it all. And I guess it's only an advantage that Eminem played this role himself. Even though I don't consider him as a great actor, I must say that his performance in this movie felt very real (probably thanks to his own experiences in life). However, that doesn't mean that I want to see him act in other movies, as a regular actor. Somehow I don't really believe he would be as good then as he is in this movie.
The biggest problem this movie probably faces is the audience it wants to target. I'm afraid that there aren't that many adult people (people in their thirties, forties, fifties or older) who will really like this movie, because this is too far away from their own reality. I guess only teenagers and people in their early twenties who like rap music and know the entire subculture around it and/or who like Eminem as an artist, will really love this movie. The others should give it a try too, but I doubt if they will all like it all that much. Personally I think they did a good job with this movie and I give it a 7/10, maybe a 7.5/10, but than again, I'm not a complete stranger to the music either...