MOVIE - 8 MILE - Review Rating $$$$$ (OUT OF 10)
STARRING - EMINEM, MEKHI PHIFER, BRITTANY MURPHY, KIM BASSINGER, EUGENE BYRD, TARYN MANNING, OMAR BENSEON MILLER, EVAN JONES & MICHAEL SHANNON.
DIRECTED BY: CURTIS HANSON (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, WONDER BOYS, THE HAND THAT ROCKS THE CRADLE)
THE STORY OF A YOUNG WHITE RAPPER, FROM THE WRONG SIDE OF THE TRACKS, WHO OVERCOMES OBSTACLES ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS.
8 Mile continues the Hollywood tradition of successful singers migrating to the big screen to seek greater fame and glory (and fatten their wallets in the process). This is a tradition with a dubious track record. Most of the Elvis films weren't exactly Academy Award material.
One of the challenges a film like 8 Mile faces is whether it can appeal to those who aren't fans of either Eminem or Rap music. While 8 Mile is a step above the Elvis films and Glitter (Mariah Carey) it doesn't have mass appeal for a variety of reasons.
The script, which required a rewrite, is partly to blame. Except for a reference, halfway through the movie, to the fact that Emimen and his gang went to school together (and have an obvious shared interest in Rap) you get very little sense of how they came to be and remain friends. This omission, which gnaws at the viewer throughout the film, is reinforced by the conclusion. Emimen's character, Rabbit, having finally overcome his fears and conquered his competition immediately abandons the friends who were instrumental in his success. The ties that bound this group together, like the script, were pretty flimsy.
The selfishness of that final act permeates 8 Mile. Scene after scene attempts to portray Eminem as the sole serious, responsible person in the film. He is the troubled, angry youth trying to make something of himself. In fact, Eminem's character spends much of the film wallowing in his own self-pity. Going to the emotional well so often, in the attempt to generate audience sympathy for the hero, doesn't have the desired effect. It quickly becomes contrived and tiring just like a broken record.
The rest of the story isn't much better. Eminem has just broken up with a long time girlfriend. We never find out what the real problem was but we are supposed to feel for our hero who is presented with another opportunity to feel sorry for himself. Eminem's home life isn't much better. Kim Bassinger, who plays his mother, does her best with the material she has to work with. Unfortunately, mom is a piece of white trailer trash whose role is to briefly portray every negative stereotype associated with such a character. Without more, (i.e. character development), many of mom's outbursts come out of nowhere. The viewer quickly concludes that mom's true purpose is to remind us, yet again, how sympathetic our hero truly is.
By the time we get to the final scene, the outcome of which is not in doubt, the audience is either emotionally exhausted or just bored. This is not a "Rocky" moment. Though Director Hansen tries mightily to create an emotional crescendo it falls flat. This triumph verges on being anti-climatic.
8 Mile's treatment of Rap music is somewhat more successful. You get some sense that Rap is street poetry, a means of expression which resonates with its adherents, if not with proverbial outsiders. However, outsiders, no matter how ignorant of the form, are aware that Rap music isn't always so genteel. While the viewer may gain a greater appreciation of Rap, as a means of cultural expression, I doubt it will convince outsiders to rush to the record store.
Ultimately, 8 Mile is not good enough to earn the recognition, it so obviously covets, of being a serious film. In struggling to demonstrate signifigance it takes away the feel good atmosphere associated with other films that chronicle triumph over adversity.
8 Mile probably won't disappoint Emenim's fans but it's not good enough to broaden his appeal either.
Alternative Reviews:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/ebert1/wkp-news-8mile08f.htm
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/8Mile-1116055/
Official Website:
http://www.8-mile.com/
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2003
David Schwartz.
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