Realistic in good ways and bad

Rating: 5/10 (22 March 2018)

When I think of 8 mile I think of the word "Realistic." I wouldn't say "Good" nor "Bad" but realistic.
To start, the characters are very realistic, layered, and each one of them behaves in ways you'd expect people in their situations to be like. This is a heavy foundation of the film as you enjoy seeing these characters on screen and how they react to new situations. Also the direction was surprisingly well done. I went in expecting this film to be carried by it's star actor but the direction, especially the atmosphere of the city at night, was very authentic.
However, the story is not the greatest. Don't get me wrong, the idea is great and I suppose all boys have at least dreamt about being a rapper, but the film fails to support it's realism in the story. Things happen in this film to inconvenience or convenience the main character, and don't happen naturally. Sometimes there is hinting that these things will happen but that is the most you are given. This makes the films three act structure really forced. Another problem I had was that the film sort of forced you to agree with its opinion. Staying spoiler free, the characters do things, or make some rhymes, and the film sort of says "Yeah that's right, this is cool, and this is right!" without leaving you the space to make your own mind. Final problem, for a film about music, there is quite a lack of music and original songs. There was only one original song, which was "Lose Yourself." It did deserve to win the Oscar as it matched everything in the film and, by itself, is a good song.
Overall, I would recommend this film to watch as an example of what a totally realistic film looks like, for better or worse.