8 Mile
Eminem stars in this autobiographical movie of sorts documenting his roots from poor punk to renowned rapper. He stars as Jimmy Smith, Jr., a guy who's left his pregnant girlfriend, but with no place to go, he heads back home, where his mom is with a dead-end boyfriend who claims he has a settlement check coming. While he works at the stamping plant, his true plans are to rap with the best of them. But something seems to hold him back. The first time he tries to battle at the Shelter, he chickens out. In the course of a week, his life goes through many twists and turns, including the introduction of Alex, played by Brittany Murphy, promises of free recording time going poof into the air, beating up the aforementioned boyfriend, etc. And through it all, he finally discovers the only way to overcome his weaknesses is to admit them first and inevitably, it leads to success.

A movie like this is meant to be formulaic so the key is the presentation. And while the battles that bookend the movie are well-done, the movie quickly gets tired showing the aspects of Smith's downed life. Yes, he's poor. Yes, he's white. Yes, he's at a dead-end job. No point in showing it over and over again. Yet, director Curtis Hanson does indeed pile it on to the point where we all feel so low, we gotta root for Smith at the end.

The women in the film have nothing to do in the film. All they become are sex objects. That's how we see mother Kim Basinger in the beginning of the film. That's what Jimmy and Alex do at the stamping plant. That's what Alex and Jimmy's managerial connection do at the radio station. Heck, that's what Alex will probably do in her future modeling career.

But above all, all of these so-called events in the movie are too funny to be in a gritty drama. There's the obvious comic relief with Cheddar Bob, always saying the "white" thing in a black crowd and awkwardly stopping a fight by pulling out a gun, firing a shot in the air, putting it back in his pants, and accidentally shooting himself in the groin. But then there's also scenes which I guess are not mean to be funny. Like when Jimmy discovers his friend doing it with Alex, he starts beating him up, but soon enough, the cameras go to the point of view of the other side of the glass window where people are talking on the air, but don't seem to notice the events on the other side.

But the battles, sometimes incoherent by the audience reactions, save the movie and Eminem does well in a role he's suited for, playing himself. 2.5 stars