Better than it needed to be.

Rating: 7/10 (10 February 2006)

Eminem's "semi-autobiographical" rap movie. Do I even need to summarize? If you've ever listened to the radio, you probably know the story: Em hails from Detroit, hates his mom and is on and off, but mostly off, with the #1 woman in his life. 8 Mile follows that basic pattern, but with a few humanizing differences.
As the movie opens, Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith (Eminem) stands nervously in the bathroom of The Shelter, a local rap club. Set to battle, he steps to the mic, and the whole crowd goes so loud, he opens his mouth and the words don't come out. He's choking, how? Everybody's joking now; the clock's run out, time's up, over, BLAOW!
Snap back to reality, where Rabbit's just split with long-time girlfriend Janeane (Taryn Manning, in the Kim Mathers role), leaving her with his car and their apartment. With no place else to go, he crosses 8 Mile Rd., the line dividing the Detroit's lower classes from its lowest, to return to the confines of his drunk and jobless mother (Kim Basinger)'s trailer. Spending his days working in a steel plant, pressing bumpers in the deepest depths of the Motor City, Rabbit dreams of hip-hop grandeur, and his best friend Future (Mekhi Phifer) wants to help him get there. The film tracks his troubles and aspirations over the course of a week, from one battle to another, watching Rabbit move from choke artist to champion. Along the way, Brittany Murphy shows up as Alex, another down-and-outer with big dreams and eyes for Rabbit.
There are a lot of things I could say to knock this film. I could call it 'The Wizard' of hip-hop, with "Lose Yourself" filling in for Super Mario Bros 3. I could knock the obligatory scenes showing Em, an accused homophobe, making good with the steel plant's requisite gay guy. I could say it has pacing issues, or call it predictable and unnecessary. I won't. This is just a likable movie, through and through. Is it great? No. But its battles are hypnotic, its leading man captivating. This is a better movie than it needed to be.
FINAL SCORE: 7.6/10 = B
Director Curtis Hanson ventures far from the realm of 'Wonder Boys' or 'L.A. Confidential', but makes a movie that works on its own terms. First-time actor Eminem is given a relatively light load -- Rabbit is coming up from rock-bottom, his emotional outlook is the bleakest of bleaks. Still, his eyes flash a mature intensity that sucks you in and makes you care. Watch him in the battle sequences and he's explosive -- incredibly watchable, and it would be a shame if he never acts again. While as a coming-of-age hip-hop story, it would later be eclipsed by Hustle & Flow, 8 Mile is still a fine film that's worth a look.