A mostly good and sometimes moving rap drama, with a notable lead performance

Rating: 7/10 (18 May 2010)

After several years of massive commercial success, controversial rapper Eminem got to star in this fictionalized biopic. I was sixteen when this was released, and knew very well who played the lead role. I remember hearing Eminem's Oscar-winning hit from the soundtrack, "Lose Yourself", many times when it was current and liking the song. I remember being interested in seeing the movie for a while, but lost that interest before it happened. I think "8 Mile" was brought back to my attention by the sudden tragic death of Brittany Murphy last December. I knew she provided the voice of Luanne Platter in the long-running cartoon sitcom, "King of the Hill", but I had never seen her in any live action roles. Finally watching this film nearly eight years after its release, it certainly didn't blow me away, but was still a memorable experience.
Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith is a young, troubled aspiring rapper whose life is very troubled at the moment. He has just failed miserably at a local rap battle, too intimidated to compete, and currently lives in a Detroit trailer park with his alcoholic mother, Stephanie, his significantly younger sister Lily, and his mother's rotten new boyfriend, Greg Buehl. He cares deeply for his sister, but life with his disturbed mother isn't easy, and Greg certainly isn't helping. Jimmy has recently broken up with his pregnant girlfriend, Janeane, and currently has a dead-end job in a metal-pressing factory. He is trying to get his rap music career off the ground, but this proves to be difficult. One day at the factory, he meets a young woman named Alex, who is on her way to New York and aspiring to be a model. She soon becomes his new girlfriend, and it eventually turns out that the wannabe rapper will get to make his demo, so it seems that life is getting better for him, but unfortunately, his troubles are far from over.
Eminem (born Marshall Bruce Mathers III) didn't have a major acting career prior to this film, and certainly hasn't done a lot of on screen acting since. Nonetheless, his performance as the protagonist here is very impressive, playing a very flawed, short-tempered character, but one with redeeming qualities, such as his affection for his sister. Since "8 Mile" is partially biographical, based on Eminem's past, it was obviously a perfect role for him. The beginning may be a little shaky, but most of the film is intriguing, showing different aspects of the protagonist's life, including his dysfunctional home, his group of friends, his workplace, his rivals, and eventually his relationship with Alex, the character played by the late Brittany Murphy. Some scenes are very gripping, such as the fights Jimmy has with Greg. There are some weak parts of this movie, such as scenes where it's hard to pay attention to the dialogue over the loud rap music, and one particularly overlong sex scene with Jimmy and Alex. Certainly not everything in this rap drama works, but most of it does, to varying degrees.
I was in high school when this hit 2002 release came into theatres and then into stores, and I'm sure many of my peers saw it around that time. I even heard one of my fellow students talking about a four-year-old boy (a cousin or something) she knew watching the movie and quoting from it, which she seemed to think was really cute. A four-year-old watching an R-rated movie is pretty messed up, and for some reason, hearing this may have been what put me off watching it! However, even though it took years for me to get around to watching "8 Mile", I was reasonably impressed when I finally did. It's certainly not a film everybody could handle, with all the swearing, violence (sometimes with blood), and sex, but if you're old enough for all this and can take it, plus you're into the rap/hip hop genre (or at least some of it) and don't hate Eminem as a rapper, it could be worth watching, even if you don't think too highly of him as a person.