Eminem might been the most popular artist in the late 90's and early 2000's. So much so that the rapper even considered getting into acting. While there have been roles that the star turned down, he wanted his debut to be one he can not only relate to, but that has a lot of heart put into it. "8 Mile" follows white rapper, B-Rabbit, a young man who grew up in a rough trailer park home and who has doubted their skills of freestyle rapping after chocking on stage. As his friend books him for a rematch next week, we follow Rabbit's journey as he tries to find ways to succeed in the hopeless city of Detroit, a place where love, work, and self-worth are challenging to hold. This is by no means a story about Eminem's life, but rather incorporates elements of his struggles in life before stardom as well as the reality of the people living in the city with dreams of making it big. This is a very small-scale story as the ending itself doesn't have the lead get a record deal or anything, but rather have him humbled in his life and learning to never give up hope. The film, with its gritty tone filled with anguish and profanity, has a very strong message of forging your own path to success without relaying on others. While that's a great theme and it effectively ties into the small stakes story, it will leave some viewers underwhelmed, as they might have expected for the movie to be about Rabbit's rise to stardom or a film that emulates every aspect of Eminem's life, to which this film was never truly about.
Eminem does a really good job as Rabbit. To be fair, he is basically playing himself in a nutshell, but he clearly has so much devotion and heart into the performance. There's never a moment where the audience thinks he's phoning it in or not caring for one scene, Eminem stay so committed to the role that it's such a shame we never saw him in any more films where he's front and centre, as he has the talent to be a good actor. Kim Basinger plays Stephanie, Rabbit's alcoholic mother who relays on poker and her abusive boyfriend to keep afloat financially. Basinger does a surprisingly great job with the character and her acting makes Stephanie a very realistic portrayal of single mothers who feel emotionally weak to provide. Her character also helps amplify the film's theme of being successful with independence. Brittany Murphy plays Alex, Rabbit's love interest who wants to be a move to New York and become a model. Although Murphy acts well and the character is supposed to mirror people who do the opposite of the film's message and attempt to rely on others to fuel on one's success, there's just not much to Alex. The chemistry between her and Rabbit seems mostly be physical attraction with a shallow bit of liking their personality and we never dive deep into her mindset as the audience just has to accept that she cheated on Rabbit with Wink in order to go to New York. Mekhi Phifer plays Future, Rabbit's closest friend and the host of the underground rap battles. Although there's not too much of his character, I really liked Phifer's performance as you can get by his acting alone how this character failed to be a someone and now chooses to host the rap battles in order to find talent, as well as his chemistry with Rabbit being captured really well. There are also plenty of side characters from Lily, Rabbit's little sister who Rabbit cares so much for, Greg, Stephanie's abusive boyfriend who freeloads off from the family played by Micheal Shannon, Wink, a radio DJ who has "connections" that can help Rabbit land the deal of a lifetime, the "Three-One-Three", who are a group of Rabbit's friends, and the Leaders of the Free World, a rival rap group that Rabbit needs to take down in his rap battle. All of the actors do a great job and give off enjoyable or hatable personalities that the audience buy into. However, it's Eminem and Basinger that steal the spotlight with the former's acting debut being a strong stand-out and the latter's excellent performance that should have been acknowledged by the Academy for Best Supporting Actress.
The late Curtis Hanson is mainly known for his work on the acclaimed "L.A. Confidential" with this being his second and only other popular film before his death. Hanson showcases a great job with his directing as he captures the city of Detroit with all of the ugliness, but bursting with personality. This is a very grey, almost depressing, looking film that effectively captures the essence of the location. However, even with the bleak, rundown city being the environment that the characters are surrounded by, it's oozing with character. While there are meat-headed fistfights and attitudes that show the lack of education the people carry, the rap battles act as the main demonstration of strength, boldness and talent rather than the physical fights. Although the use of rap battles might seem silly outside of the nightclubs, it honestly works in showing how these acts are basically the only way to get actually reputation in the city. It sounds too fictional on paper, but is effectively displayed on screen by Hanson. It is also helped by Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography that's not only kept grounded and handheld, but feels like an actual character in its character as we go back and forth in conversations and making it the audience's window into the bleak city. It's a great mixture of professional and artificial amateur-like work to make a realistic display for the film. Eminem of course did the music for the movie, and while I can't at all remember the original score, it's the rap songs that really make the music stand out. Not only do you have various rap songs playing on the radio of Rabbit's run-down Delta, but the multiple rap battles are written extremely well to suit the characters and the vocabulary they possess. They aren't songs you'd listen to per se, but they sound very good and also work effectively as verbal battles to the death. However, I think everyone knows of the Academy Award-winning song that plays at the credits of the film. What's there to say about "Lose Yourself" that hasn't been said before about how excellent it is. Although the song itself is more attached to Eminem's life compared to the film as a whole and the fact that it only play at the end credits, it practically has no effect on the legendary status of the song, which has many proclaimed to not only the rapper's best single, but one of the best original songs in film history.
"8 Mile" is a film that, although outshined by an Oscar-winning song, holds up as a very good movie. It has its issues as Alex is a pretty undeveloped love interest and the film could have focused more of Rabbit's rise to stardom rather than the small-scale story that we got, but these are really scrapping the bottom of the barrel. From an effective subtle story that holds a really well-meaning message, a bitter tone that matches the environment of Detroit, the strong cast of characters with solid performances by Eminem and Basinger, Hanson's down-to-earth direction and portrayal of the city, Prieto's solid cinematography, and the rap soundtrack that companies Eminem's Oscar-winning song. I'm surprised by the lack of flaws the film has, which goes to show how dedicated and how talented the filmmakers and cast are for a film that seems like a cash-grab product that seems only relevant due to Eminem's popularity. However, even if you remove Eminem's involvement, this film still works as a great watch to this day.
Verdict: 8.5/10. A great film that is somewhat underrated due to one fantastic song. Give it a watch and lose yourself as the film captures your attention.
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