Explosive, 21st Century Take on the Macho Rock 'n' Roll Movie

Rating: 9/10 (19 December 2005)

"8 Mile" forcefully brings rock' n' roll movies into the 21st century.
While it has striking similarities to Elvis Presley and Beatles movies in how it uses autobiographical elements to make its similarly charismatic lead star comfortable in a new medium to sort of present his own story, Curtis Hanson's direction and the cinematography of Rodrigo Prieto (of "Amores Perros") create a thrilling environment for him to explode.
Like "L.A. Confidential," Hanson is terrific at getting up close in macho environments and bringing us right into their verbal and actual violence. While I'm quite sure my ignorance of hip hop slang and culture led me to miss references and the point of much conversation, it did seem to me that Hanson captured the why and how behind Eminem's rage.
The movie's climax is the epiphany when his constructive genius takes over as he learns to channel his anger into his lyrics, and to even take it a level beyond the insulting toasting of the local Detroit battle-of-the-rappers to forge a new persona (what will eventually become Slim Shady among other images) and a new kind of rap that will sweep the nation.
It is ironic that here in Detroit (or as the dialog and the credits call it - the 313) how few of the young adults have cars (even though Eminem's character is working in an auto parts plant), and are constantly cadging rides from each other to avoid the humiliation of taking the bus.
Of course the women in this desolate Motor City, that is an urban recall of the "Mad Max" movies, are either beloved innocents or are traitorously duplicitous; I was taken aback how much of a calculating groupie Brittany Murphy's character is, unlike the usual devoted, loyal girlfriend in such movies.
If the closing song is originally written for the movie (and I don't know if the sing-along audience had seen the movie before or knew the soundtrack), it should be considered for Academy Award "Best Song" as it brilliantly describes the movie and the character's post-life.
It was not appropriate, however, for a parent in the row behind me to bring a small child to this film (and not just because the kid talked through the whole movie); even if they expose them to profanity-laded rap music at home, this is a mature movie with mature scenes that would be quite disturbing to young children.
(originally written 12/15/2002)