8 Mile (2002)

Directed by Curtis Hanson
Written by Scott Silver

8 Mile has to be one of the most contradictory movies in recent memory, if only because you'd expect Eminem's first movie to be a mindless gangsta comedy, a Scream-like horror film, or something in the general hood of Breakin' – i.e. anything to cash in as fast and hard as possible. It's probably closest to Breakin' in terms of "rap-offs" (in which characters prove their street cred by rapping insults at each other), but it's too sensitive and thoughtful to be totally discarded as fluff (maybe the best comparison is Saturday Night Fever).

And though I'm the last one to pretend I was a fan before seeing the movie, I was hoodwinked enough to think that, having seen the film, I know something about the man who is Em&Em. Then again, having also recently heard The Marshall Mathers LP I'm not so sure.

The best way to describe the film is as a coming of age story – a sensitive but tough rapper who faces not sexy vampires or corrupt cops, but what's basically an existential crisis. The film tracks his rise not from poorhouse to penthouse, but from dreamer to doer.

It's less about how Eminem navigates rising success than about how he defines himself personally and artistically prior to success, and how his struggle to win over his native defects (laziness, fear, fantasy) paves the way for him to become successful.

Given Eminem's recent PR problems, it's hard not to think of 8 Mile as an elaborate publicity tool. The thinking being that if they throw enough money at the problem and get enough A-list talent on board, they can make Eminem palatable to those who a) think he's scary, and/or b) think he's lame.

And it at least worked for those in the first group, seeing that he won a Best Song Oscar for his efforts. An Oscar! Though I must admit, it's a really good song, and orders of magnitude better than U2's track for Gangs of New York … though far less so than LMP's song for Gangbangs of New York, which wasn't even nominated, probably due to lyrics like "Six big dongs for every dirty pootie."

The 8 Mile filmmakers confuse the issue by distancing themselves from reality. This isn't The Eminem Story, and the main character is named "Bunny Rabbit," not Eminem. I'm guessing it's so they could fancy-up the plot with supporting characters and situations that could have happened but probably didn't (like the romantic subplot with a would-be model played by the skeletal Brittany Murphy, and a 47-minute lowrider montage).

But it all kinda works. I liked the movie. The acting was good all-around – Eminem clearly has screen cred, and my only casting criticism would be that Kim Basinger is way too pretty to be a believable trailer trash mom … have you seen my mom, for example?

I especially enjoyed the climactic rap competition, which was triumphant, emotional, and funny. I appreciated the message of integrity and inner strength: after a huge and predictable personal victory, instead of going out and partying with his friends, Bunny Rabbit goes back to his job at the factory. And that's clearly the real victory. How many movies have the stones to say that?

So, now that Eminem's proven he can act, that he's sensitive, not a racist, not a homophobe, deserving of success but still of the street, I think now's the time for him to make the sexy hip-hop thriller I wrote, Booty of Evidence.

Review by Crimedog