Réussir ou mourir

In 'Get Rich or Die Trying' Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson plays Marcus, a drug dealer from the street who wants to get out of the thug-life and be a rap star. This movie is supposed to be about 50 Cent and his true-life struggle to be a success.

This film was good in that it seemed to parallel the life of 50 Cent. From what I know, it is fairly accurate to a lot of what he went through. My problem is that this plot has been done and redone. A story about a poor ghetto kid trying to be heard, clean up his life and make it as a rapper. Have we not seen this before ('8 Mile', 'Hustle and Flow', etc.)? Do not get me wrong, this is a good movie in its own right. However, the plot is unoriginal and very predictable; even if it is true to life. I would only recommend this to big 50 Cent fans or someone who has not seen '8 Mile' or 'Hustle and Flow'.

I don't see why everyone has such a problem with this movie - I thought it was okay, it wasn't the best movie I've ever seen, and it didn't have the best acting ever, but it certainly wasn't the worst movie ever.

The ending wasn't too good, but the movie wasn't too shabby, the storyline was good and it proved to keep me entertained for the full two hours. I learnt a lot about 50 cent during the movie, even though I'm not a fan of rap and/or 50 cent himself, I still enjoyed it.

The movie gives you inspiration, if 50 cent can go through a lot and come out of it a billion dollar rapper at the end, it makes you think that you could probably do something on the same level.

You don't have to like rap and/or 50 cent to enjoy this movie and read into it. If you enjoyed the trailer, don't let the bad reviews put you off, that's what I did, yet I liked the movie.

I liked this movie because I thought 50 cent did a fairly good job acting being that it was his first movie, but he does need to improve his acting a bit more. I thought the story had holes in it because it did not show enough detail of how he developed as a rapper. He just went from drug dealer to rapper. There needed to be some progress between the two lifestyles because it is usually a struggle to become a good rapper. It would have been a better story if it showed how 50 really went from drug dealer to rapper. He met Jam master Jay of Run DMC who taught him how to rap. Anyway it is a good story because of the fact that it shows how it is in the inner city is educational to people who are blind to this kind of struggle and it shows him being able to get out the hood to pursue his dream. This will inspire young people in that position to do the same, maybe not with rap, but with their God-given talents.

Never having known his father and with his mother brutally murdered, Marcus had few options open to him other than the life that the streets and gangs offer. Coming up within the ranks of Majestic's crew sees him earning a street rep but really his dream is to make it in the rap game; and while the crime offers him money and power, it also offers danger.

It is clear from reading reviews on this site that some viewers have simply come to this film with their minds made up that 50 Cent is rubbish and that the whole musical genre has little to offer. Doing this does make wonder why they bothered and it did confuse me as to why people who hate 50 Cent would bother to come to his film. Anyway, I'm not a massive fan and, outside of his first album, I have almost nothing of value from the man, but having liked 8 Mile I decided to try this. Unfortunately the same is true of the film as of 50's music in that it is obvious, lacking individuality and flair even if it is "OK" on the whole. The plot is engaging enough but there is nothing in regards interest or insight – just a focus on events. Thus we get a so-so film that moves through from start to finish and then ends but with no good characters to speak of it does end up with whether or not your interest in 50 as a person can sustain you.

As an actor he cannot bring much to the screen because, like with his music he doesn't have a great range. His mumbling is not the issue, it is just that (amazingly) he seems to have nothing to reach for in regards his experiences. He cannot find depth in his character and it is incredibly superficial and dull. Akinnuoye-Agbaje seems content to simply vary his Oz character slightly and take the money which is what he does. Likewise Howard, Walters and others all just seem to be there for the exposure and money rather than anything to get their teeth into acting wise. Bryant is much, much better than this offers her the chance to show and, as much as she tries, she cannot find much to do. Sheridan may have seen something in the material to peak his interest but the reality is much different and, as slick as it all looks, he cannot pull much out of it as substance.

Overall then this is a roundly so-so film but it is not as bad as many will have you believe. The problem is that it offers almost nothing to the casual viewer looking for character, plot and value in the material because these are lacking. The performances are so-so despite some big names in there and 50 Cent only exposes his weaknesses as an actor – unable to even draw on his own life and only producing an unconvincing and wooden performance and character as a result.

The criticism of this film reminds me of that received for Jarhead. People said Jarhead was not a war movie, and the Get Rich or Die Trying had to little to do with rap. My question is, why doesn't this make it a bad film? And to make one last comparison, this film way out did anything 8 Mile attempted (much more of a social critique).

The strength in this film is derived from it's black and white presentation of the "dope game" and how for fifty it was either sleep in a cellar, or buy a Mercedes. Sheridan did a good depiction of how selling drugs is an easy escape, a way to make you feel like a man. The best and most powerful scene in this film is when someone slips a razor blade in his solitary cell in order for him to kill himself. He remarks, "I thought about it". I also enjoyed the non-romanticized violence, and how the drug game was not altogether glorified.

The downfall of this film is it's over dramatized scenes, and it may be a little to long, however, a good critique of Black Urban society, and well worth your 8 dollars.