8 Mile (film)

8 Mile is a 2002 Academy Award-winning film starring Marshall "Eminem" Mathers as the young white rapper Jimmy Smith Jr. Eight Mile Road is a road which forms the boundary between predominantly African-American Detroit, Michigan and the city's mostly white northern suburbs. The term "8 Mile" therefore represents a barrier that is difficult to cross.
Besides Mathers, the stars of the movie include Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Omar Benson Miller, Eugene Byrd, Michael Shannon, Evan Jones, Chloe Greenfield, Taryn Manning and De'Angelo Wilson.
== Plot ==
In 1995, Jimmy is an aspiring rapper who performs under the stage name B-Rabbit. A blue-collar worker from a poor family residing in a trailer park just north of Detroit, Jimmy has moved to the run-down trailer home of his alcoholic mother, Stephanie, his younger sister Lily, and Stephanie's abusive live-in boyfriend, Greg. Although encouraged by his friends, Jimmy worries about his potential as a rapper. One night, Jimmy chokes during a rap battle at a local venue, the Shelter, and he leaves the stage humiliated.
During the day, Jimmy works at a car factory. Desperate for money, he asks for extra shifts, but his supervisor bluntly dismisses his request because of his habitual tardiness. Later on, he befriends a woman named Alex and begins to take more responsibility for the direction of his life. Stephanie discovers an eviction notice as Jimmy is getting ready for work.
Jimmy's friendship with Wink, who has ties to a record label promoter, becomes strained after he discovers that Wink does promotional work for Jimmy's rivals, a rap group known as "Leaders of the Free World". At one point, Jimmy and his friends get into a violent brawl with the Free World crew, which is disrupted when Jimmy's friend, Cheddar Bob, threatens them with a gun and accidentally shoots himself in the leg; he survives after being rushed to the hospital.
During a lunch break at work, one of Jimmy's co-workers performs a freestyle rap insulting his co-worker, Paul, insinuating Paul is gay. Jimmy raps a freestyle defending Paul, which improves his confidence after a positive reception. Alex arrives and is impressed by Jimmy's talent, and they have sex.
Despite her best attempts to keep the eviction notice a secret, Greg discovers it and confronts Stephanie. When Jimmy punches Greg for pushing his mother to the ground, they fight, ending in Greg leaving Stephanie for good.
Wink arranges for Jimmy to meet with producers at a recording studio, but Jimmy finds Wink and Alex having sex. Enraged, Jimmy attacks Wink as Alex tries to break them up. In retaliation, Wink and the Leaders of the Free World assault Jimmy outside his trailer. The leader of the gang, Papa Doc, holds Jimmy at gunpoint and threatens to kill him, but Wink convinces him not to do it. After the group has left Jimmy alone, his mother arrives with enough money to pay to avoid eviction, having won $3,200 at a bingo tournament.
Jimmy's best friend and battle host, Future, pushes him to get revenge by competing against the Leaders of the Free World at the next rap battle. Jimmy agrees, but his boss, having noticed improved effort at work, asks Jimmy to do a late-night shift. He agrees, but it conflicts with the battle at the Shelter. Alex unexpectedly visits Jimmy at work. She says goodbye, as she is going to New York, and she is hoping to see Jimmy at the Shelter later. This motivates Jimmy to do the battle. He asks Paul to cover the start of his shift as a favor while Jimmy goes to the battle.
In all rounds of the rap battle, Jimmy has to compete against one member of the Free World crew. After handily winning the first two rounds against Lyckety-Splyt and Lotto, he faces Papa Doc. Going first, Jimmy pre-empts Papa Doc's potential insults, acknowledging his own "white trash" roots and difficult life. He ends his battle repudiating Papa Doc's image as a thug by exposing his privileged background, having attended a private school in a wealthy suburb and living in a stable, two-parent household, and the fact that his name is Clarence. Embarrassed and with nothing to say in rebuttal, Papa Doc hands the microphone back to Future, conceding the battle.
After being congratulated by Alex and his friends, Jimmy is offered a position by Future to co-host battles at the Shelter. Jimmy declines, saying that hosting is Future's thing, and he needs to do his own, and leaves to return to work.
== Cast ==
* Eminem as James "Jimmy" Smith Jr., a rapper who uses the stage name "B-Rabbit"
* Kim Basinger as Stephanie Smith, Jimmy and Lily's mother
* Mekhi Phifer as David Porter a.k.a. Future, Jimmy's best friend and the rap battle host
* Brittany Murphy as Alex, Jimmy's love interest
* Evan Jones as Cheddar Bob, Jimmy's slow-witted yet loyal friend
* Omar Benson Miller as Sol George, Jimmy's friend and Iz's brother
* De'Angelo Wilson as DJ Iz, Jimmy's friend and Sol's brother
* Eugene Byrd as Wink, a radio DJ
* Taryn Manning as Janeane, Jimmy's ex-girlfriend
* DJ Head as Battle DJ
* Michael Shannon as Greg Buehl, Stephanie's abusive boyfriend and former classmate of Jimmy and Future
* Chloe Greenfield as Lily, Jimmy's sister
* Anthony Mackie as Clarence a.k.a. Papa Doc, leader of the Free World
* Multiple cameos including:
* Brandon T. Jackson
* Proof
* Obie Trice
* Njeri Earth
* Xzibit
Category:2002 films
Category:Films
Category:2002 in film
Category:English-language films
Category:Hood films
Category:Universal Pictures films
Category:Imagine Entertainment films
Category:Films produced by Brian Grazer
Category:Rated R
Category:Blockbusters
Category:Drama
Category:Pages containing Mature Content
Category:Films on VHS
Category:Films on UMD
Category:Films on DVD
Category:Films on Blu-Ray
Category:Films on 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray
Category:2:35:1 Aspect Ratio Films
Category:2:39:1 Aspect Ratio Films
Category:Films set in Detroit