I am not an Eminem fan. I find his public persona to be annoying, contrived and cartoonish. While I sometimes enjoy his songs, I often find that they wear out their welcome as quickly as the man himself. So when I recommend \8 Mile,"" understand that I say it against all possible biases.
""8 Mile"" is loosely based on the story of Eminem's life. In the lead, Eminem plays the young rapper Jimmy Smith Jr., known as Rabbit. The story begins with Rabbit being forced to move back home with his mother (Kim Basinger) and young sister. Meanwhile, he struggles to make a name for himself in the Detroit rap scene. As he works towards his hip-hop dreams, we watch him struggle to deal with a messed up home life, a demanding work life, a strange new love interest (Brittany Murphy) and the challenge of seeing who his real friends are.
When discussing ""8 Mile,"" one must start with the surprisingly strong performance of Eminem. Debut acting performances don't get much better than this. Forget all the talk that he's just playing himself and that there's no great achievement to be had. Eminem's whole public persona is a performance of a character. That's part of the reason why I don't like him, but at the same time is the reason why I must credit him for what he accomplishes in ""8 Mile."" In the movie, Eminem crafts a character of great humanity with undeniable poise and presence, far different from the Eminem we all know. He may stumble over a line or two, but he portrays an off-the-beaten track hero in a way that few actors have ever been capable of doing.
Of course, Eminem's performance was bolstered by a strong supporting cast. Kim Basinger ably captures an emotionally unstable alcoholic woman, while Brittany Murphy provides just the right cadence and chemistry for the rapper's love interest. The protagonist's friends are also cast well, most notably Mekhi Phifer in the role of the MC who befriends Eminem.
While I was impressed by Eminem's performance, I was really dazzled by the direction of Curtis Hanson (""L.A. Confidential,"" ""Wonder Boys""). Hanson gets out of the way of the story and shoots it the way the viewer himself would see it if he were there in person. While the movie is romanticized, it's romanticized in a gritty way. The scenery isn't pretty, and aside from Eminem's rugged anti-matinee idol looks, Basinger, Murphy, and Phifer all have their good looks toned down noticeably.
The pace is handled perfectly, and ""8 Mile"" accomplishes a feat I last saw in ""Road to Perdition"" of taking a rather predictable plot and handling it with such great skill that predictability isn't a problem. It achieves a tone vaguely reminiscent of ""Rocky."" The familiarity of Eminem's life story also becomes irrelevant. The movie is elevated by the glorious details.
