8 Mile

I think the most impressive thing about 8 Mile is that Eminem isn't a terrible actor. Or maybe he's just playing a character so close to himself that he doesn't have to act. The story is predictable, so there's not a lot of tension while watching it. Also, I found myself wondering why these untelevised, unpublicized rap battles were such a big deal for grown adults. Nevertheless, it's a satisfactory underdog story that I'm glad I finally watched.

Those who are saying `8 Mile' shows a vanilla-ed Eminem may have a point: this movie introduces him to a non-rap audience just as `Wild Style' introduced us to hip-hop. But those who say Eminem is sanitized here for mall viewing have an odd notion of language. Perhaps his CD's contain more inflammatory material than is aired in this movie, but what gets said here is most definitely not for any suburban grandmothers who aren't stone deaf.

It's surprising - admirable, really - how well Curtis Hansen and his crew keep track of the plot from scene to scene when not much of it seems to matter other than Rabbit's problems with his mother, Stephanie Smith -- Kim Basinger. Bassinger is a blue ribbon southern white trash trailor park mom. You can't help feeling that with minor tweaking she could be the mother of a Grosse Pointe prep school boy, a lady whose problem was overspending instead of imminent eviction from a stinky trailor. Bassinger makes trashiness look attractive, just as she made movie star decay attractive when Hansen directed her in `L.A. Confidential' six years ago. Rabbit's problems with girlfriends aren't significant, though he has two of them, an ex and a new one. Both are delicious but primed for rejection. Rabbit's closest relationships are with his emcee pal `Future' (played by an utterly charming and huggable Mikhi Pfifer) and his slightly retarded token white homie, Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones).

But his closest relationship of all is with himself, as is clear from the first scene, where Eminem is doing rap gestures in the competition shed men's room, looking in the mirror, hearing his music in his head --and this is fine, because it's what a young man has to do: get on friendly working terms with who he is. The movie is about his going off to be on his own and give up his rowdy playmates to become a winner, and he walks off by himself in the final scene. The comparison with Shakespeare's Henry IV isn't out of place. The Shakespearean parallel was used explicitly for Keanu Reeves' character in `My Own Private Idaho' but the theme is really more central here. Eminem isn't a cold personality like Keanu Reeves in Van Sant's movie. He is close to his mates and they're always touching hands and gently hugging each other. The hands and the hugs are one of the main images that stay with you after seeing `8 Mile.'

Eminem as shown in `8 Mile' isn't totally motivated by his anger at all. His anger is very contained. He seems able to turn it on and off at will and release it only when he needs it -- to trounce rap competition or throw out his mom's sleazy boyfriend. It's his ability to control his anger that makes both Rabbit and Eminem winners.

Eminem does have an authenticity about him that makes for a strong presence on screen. Paradoxically he projects a powerful inwardness, so that his turning away from everybody makes his face jump out at us. His effect is of authenticity, because he doesn't put on a reaction to please the audience or suit the scene, but he is always there, moving with the scene and in fact creating it.

`8 Mile' isn't just a vehicle for Eminem. It's too well made a movie to be that. But without Eminem `8 Mile' wouldn't exist. The only importance of the rapping contests emceed by `Future' is that first Rabbit shies away from them, and then he enters them and wins them. You have to wonder how the rapper/actors feel who are in the movie only to be put down by Eminem.

`8 Mile' cannot escape from the limitations of the fictionalized star biopic. There have been dozens of movies about emerging music stars and their families, their early sponsors, their first big breaks, and so on, many of them with more range and specificity of detail than this one. This movie only takes its hero to the moment when he walks away, having shown that he can be a star. The whole focus is on his personality, and in particular his stillness. The most important moments are those when Rabbit/Eminem stands with mike in hand, silent, waiting for inspiration to strike. Even when he choses not to compete and hands the mike back, this moment is full of power. In this movie Eminem carries the expression of sheer imminence, raw potential, to a new level of clarity and confidence.

This rapper is good just standing there.

I was moving around IMDB just now trying to sort of fill in the blanks of some random credits that I'd missed in my movie catalog, and I ran across this review of 8 Mile from this college student in NYC. Now, I never really write reviews because everyone's opinions vary distinctly and it seems kind of pointless to try to show them the "magic" of a certain movie if they refuse to see it, or to tell them how horrible it was as though I think that I'm really that much better of a director, writer, or whatever. But after reading such lines as "if you liked this film, you know nothing about film" and so on, I simply couldn't contain myself.

First off, let me start by saying that I in no way respect Eminem as an artist. I personally despise rap and the "culture" that it creates in society full of pumped up punks trying to act tough or "hard", as they struggle in a societal structure that they perpetrate upon themselves. In fewer words: I hate listening to constant bitching and dated slogans about bitches and benjamins. And after hearing about Eminem's wife-beating and all around socially retarded mentality, I wanted less to do with 8 Mile on the probability that he may be receiving a percentage of the ticket sales. But, after a time, I ended up renting it at Blockbuster for the hell of it, at least to give it a chance. I popped it in, and I was all set and ready to hate every minute of it... but ended up sitting through a movie that actually left me with a smile on my face.

For those who've not yet seen the film, I'll give some background of the story. Eminem plays Rabbit, a struggling Detroit freestyle rapper trying desperately to make a name for himself in the bustling Detroit underground music scene. Kim Basinger plays his alcoholic mother, miserable and bitter of where her life has ended up (in a trailer park, barely able to make rent or take care of herself). Mekhi Phifer plays Future, Rabbit's best ally and, in some ways, his father figure; playing the role of the protective, guidance providing, loving role-model. Conflict stirs in Rabbit's life as, through his bouts with stage fright and homelessness, he begins to question his ability to make it in the world of music as he wishes to; nearly becoming content to simply abide life as he knows it. But through his experiences and how he works through his own personal problems, he starts to see his path better and more clearly.

Now, I grew up in a very small town. A farming community in the middle of nowhere, where my nearest neighbors where half a mile away. I hated every minute that I was there and felt trapped in a world there that I didn't feel welcome in or a part of. Aspiring to become a filmmaker when everyone tells you you're an idiot for even thinking of it isn't easy. Which is probably why I related so much with this film. Rabbit's own experiences as well as his mother's criticism of him and his life make him feel trapped within his station of life, feeling as though his own specific voice isn't being heard, and trying desperately to change that. Anyone who doesn't recognize this is someone that I would generally think was lucky enough to not be born into this type of community structure with ideals that conflicted with the generally accepted norm; as it's thoroughly developed throughout the story. And the story... the story develops nicely over time. It never feels rushed or thrown together hastily just to make a movie with the star power of Eminem. That COULD have happened, and it COULD have made a lot of money for everyone involved. Instead, a director was chosen who understands pacing of a story, importance of cinematic elements throughout a story (i.e.: not just putting actors on screen to say their lines and that's it), and who just understands the elements of how to tell a good story on film. They even gathered a supporting cast of actual actors who've proven themselves as true artists within their craft in the past, and didn't just hand off the part to one of the executive producer's nieces or nephews or whatever. Scott Silver's loose adaptation of the life of Eminem was tweaked just enough to skew from Eminem's specific life, and become more universal in it's ability to portray a struggle that millions of artists go through around the world. All of these elements, along with my surprise at the actual acting ability of Eminem, combine to tell a story that feels deeply personal while very universal, and can be related to by more people than simply myself. It tells a story of never settling for what you can get just because it's easier, and that hard work and dedication are the only ways to dig your way out of a perpetual cycle that you may find yourself a part of.

To close, this is by no means the best movie that I've ever seen. Not even close. But that doesn't mean that it's not a prime example of filmmaking at it's best. A movie doesn't have to be the best thing since disco in order to be any good... it simply has to have a purpose and a message, and portray those with clarity and honesty; which this movie accomplishes in spades.

See this movie.

8 Mile probably isn't what you expect. Given the cast and premise, you probably expect one of two things, either a silly excuse for self-aggrandizement or an overblown caricature of hip-hop culture. You don't get either. What you get is a brave film that is surprisingly culturally and intellectually rigorous and an aggressive film that is so emotionally intense that it seems to sometimes tear itself apart.

The plot is not a biography of Martial Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem, but it is very much informed and guided by the experiences of his early career as a rapper in blue-collar and no-collar Detroit. Eminem gives a compelled, powerful performance that diverges just enough from his public self to inject the story with a strong sense of realism without sacrificing anything artistically. The supporting cast also makes fine use of their considerable talents, carving the Detroit of this film out of the world itself, not out of fiction. Even as they help communicate a hard, unforgiving time and place, they also give rise to deep and profound sympathies that don't come around in every film.

The naturalistic presentation doesn't stop there; most of the film is shot on location in Detroit, and the gritty, sometimes almost frenzied design and cinematography firmly establish that this is not just another Hollywood movie. This is a movie that goes places movies don't generally go where, for good or for ill, many people do live every day. For one, 8 Mile might have the most believable, most powerful representation of an automobile factory of any film in the last twenty years, and it still manages to use the location for sophisticated, plot driving drama. Good stuff.

Of course, the film has its flaws. It's very heavy and bleak, at times it skirts the boundary of cliche a little bit, and the villains, a rival rap group known as the "Free World," are a little over the top, but, time and again, the solid acting and daunting camerawork keep coming back to seize the eye and command attention.

Oh, and, in case you were wondering, there is rapping, and plenty of it. The rapping is really top-quality, cutting edge stuff, for the most part, and it is integrated into the script so well that it is always clear that the characters choose to rap, not that the script forces them to do so. The rapping happens because it must happen to these characters at this time, not because Eminem is a rapper. In an industry where pop music movies are a dime a dozen, this is particularly impressive. This film says something about rap and the human experience that hasn't been articulated this well many times before; it bridges the gap between rap and poetry in a big way, and makes that gap look a lot smaller.

All in all, the thing that really defines 8 Mile is how committed to this idea the cast and crew must have been in order to make this film. Every minute and every second, the cast's intensity never gives up, and the camera never sleeps. The film is detailed, finely crafted, and has a pounding heart the size of a boxcar. If you don't mind the obscenity and violence (and there is a bunch), I'd definitely say this is a movie worth seeing.

Rap is not my cup of tea. But this movie is very well interpreted and perfectly holds water!