8 Mile Review
by David N. Butterworth (dnb AT dca DOT net)November 12th, 2002
8 MILE
A film review by David N. Butterworth
Copyright 2002 David N. Butterworth
**1/2 (out of ****)
8 Mile is a highway in Detroit, a dividing line that, ostensibly, separates
the haves from the have-nots, the blacks from the whites. Jimmy Smith Jr. (hip-hop
artist Eminem, making his big screen debut in the appropriately named "8 Mile")
is a have-not, an angry white rapper who dreams of cutting a hit demo and crossing
those tracks to Respectville. It's not exactly "Flashdance" or "Rocky III" but it's got a surprisingly softer-than-nails feel to it all. In fact, Curtis ("L.A. Confidential") Hanson's latest drama can best be described as "genteel"--for
all the angry black hip-hop artists rappin' and rumblin' in parking lots, this semi-autobiographical tale relegates sex and drugs and nastiness to second place
and focuses instead on Jimmy (aka B-Rabbit) and his rise from steel plant presser
to serious challenger to champion hip-hopper Papa Doc's throne in the Battle of the Shelter. Not since the Bad News Bears came from behind to win the state
pennant (or maybe it was Air Bud?) have we seen a finale as formulaic as this one, but clichés and predictability get much airplay in "8 Mile." There is, however, that odd, underlying sweetness to contend with. The film looks good (shot in grimy blue-and-white) and sounds good (wall-to-wall street language does double time with original music by the artist currently known as Eminem). Most importantly, it's got Eminem's compelling, assured, workaholic performance
in the lead. He's great, certainly having what it takes to lift the film above
its standard fare convictions, whether it be in confrontations with his white trash trailer park living mother (Kim Basinger) or on stage, where the performer's
brash, lyrical rhymes smash and grab the audience proper.
--
David N. Butterworth
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