The ending was not unsatisfying.

Rating: Null/10 (26 November 2002)

(Spoilers)
The ending was real. As a matter of fact the film even with its cinematic flaws redeemed itself in my opinion, by avoiding the happy sappy ending. I am not a die-hard Eminem fan, but I applaud him for portraying the role in as real a manner as he did. In the end of the film, it did not finish with the typical montage-style switchover, starting with the cheering fans at the Shelter and ending with some packed stadium. The film did not start with a preamble of "this is what happened." The film did start, however, with the main character in a bad situation, and at the virge of a defining moment in his life, which is what could easily be told of many a young person's life. Through the course of a couple hours we witness what he actively does to make his situation better, and witness turnarounds of other characters as well. I think that the writer of the film added Eminem's mother's bingo success in to not make the situation so dire as to suspend disbelief. The fact that she won 3200 dollars in bingo only stabilizes her situation, as she has no job to speak of. This ensures that Lily is taken care of for the moment, but in a way is real as well. In real life oftentimes all we can do is stabilize the situations that occur. To continue, Eminem holds his own in the rap contest and finds his true voice out of personal anguish. He ends the film walking off to "do his own thing," because he finally realized this was the only thing he could do. In real life if you hit your mark you don't give up what you do to support that mark. As Mark Twain once said, "Put your eggs in one basket; then watch that basket." He knew he couldn't miss the rest of his shift, for he would have been fired for sure and not get enough money to record his newfound voice. All of this, ending included, makes the film real, and I think realism is what the film was stressing throughout.