Gr8t Mile (8 Mile (DVD))

Member Name: stevepeto

Product:	8 Mile (DVD)
Date:	17/10/08 (299 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Story, Acting, Soundtrack

Disadvantages: Not for those that do not like hip-hop/rap

8 Mile

Movie:

Life has not been kind to Jimmy 'B-Rabbit' Smith (Eminem). His pregnant girlfriend broke up with him and he gave her his car, although he finds out that she was just pretending to be pregnant. He has a dead end job in a car manufacturing plant and because he is homeless he has to move in with his mum and baby sister in a trailer park.

But B-Rabbit has a dream, he wants to be a rapper and we see him at the beginning of the film preparing for his "battle" in the grimy toilets of a dilapidated night club called The Shelter, he is nervous and actually vomits in the toilets before making his way through the hyped up crowd to the stage, the crowd is mainly black youths. The other rapper he is battling against is black as are his crew, with the exception of his friend Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones) he is the only white guy there; a white guy in a mainly black club, in a totally black field (because Vanilla Ice don't count)

Another friend; future (Mekhi Phifer) is the emcee that introduces the battles for a 45 second showdown, Rabbit is being ridiculed by the other rapper but when given his chance to shine, he freezes, the crowd look large and foreboding, he loses his nerve and flees from the club without rapping a single word.

So begins 8-mile.

Whether you dislike rap or not you have to admit that Eminem has been extremely influential within that particular music genre, his music is sometimes controversial, sometimes humorous but almost always ripping chunks out of something or someone. But the skill he has as a rapper does not necessarily port over to another field, i.e. movies. So when I first heard about this film I was both excited and filled with trepidation at the same time.

But it would seem that I had nothing to worry about as when the credits started rolling at the end I had been thoroughly entertained by a film that was in my opinion, honest, gritty and well acted by everyone that had any screen time. And as for Eminem and his acting ability, well for the doubters out there I think that the man can act too. I guess my only concern about him is where would he realistically go in terms of other movies that would not just be a similar character but in other circumstances.

But that maybe for another time, this review is about 8-mile itself; or rather the journey that "Rabbit" and his friends take during the relatively short timeframe of the film. "Rabbit" sees music as his way out of the trailer park, he writes his rhymes on scraps of paper and he dreams of making something of himself and getting out of there. His four main friends DJ Iz (De'Angelo Wilson), Sol George (Omar Benson Miller), Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones) and Future (Mekhi Phifer) are loyal buddies all wanting their own way out, all dreaming. However, except for maybe Future, Rabbit is the only one who is trying to achieve his goals. His friends are all dreamers who are dreaming of their way out of the hard life that they find themselves in, but not everyone seems to have the will or determination to put it into action, but they are all close friends and ultimately they will look out for each other.

I liked the group of friends, I could relate to them and their issues, and to some level their dreams about wanting more from life, all the guys came across as believable and real although Evan Jones as cheddar bob deserves special mention, he obviously looks up to "Rabbit" but comes across as a bit challenged but he is a likeable guy just wanting to be accepted by everyone around him. You can see this in the way he acts, you can see he looking for that acceptance and a needing to belong something that a lot of us go through.

Obviously we need other characters within this story to it whole and this comes within four areas. We have his trailer home life which he is ashamed of, a drunken, bum of a mother Stephanie (Kim Bassinger), his baby sister Lily (Chloe Greenfield) whom he adores and Greg (Michael Shannon) who is his mother's boyfriend. We have all kind of emotions getting stirred up here, disgust at his mums seeming unwillingness to make things better for herself, love for his little sister whom he wants to protect from the bad things and conflict with Greg, mainly because he was in his class at school and feels the shame that having a kid his age sleeping with his mother brings.

We also have Wink (Eugene Byrd) who is a wheeler dealer type character who says that he has contacts within the business and who encourages "Rabbit" to pursue his goals. Then we have Alex (Brittany Murphy) who is a love interest within the film, her character also wants out of Detroit and is looking as modeling. And whilst it is never really suggested in the film there was a point when "Rabbit" was dropping her off for a photo shoot and I thought that somewhere it may involved pornography, and that she would be willing to do that in her quest for a better life, That however is something I read into the film, although I could be wrong as it isn't really heavily suggested upon.

Lastly we have the ongoing conflict with The Free World which is a crew of rappers of whom Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie) is the leader, there are a number of altercations with this group throughout the film and they often throw up obstacles that our main protagonist needs to overcome, "Rabbit" also comes up against these guys in the rap battles. And for me it is the Rap Battles where this film elevates itself from good to very good. The bass line, the movement and cheering of the crowd, the cutting lyrics that brought me out in goose bumps as the raps gets harder and more personal, especially after "Rabbit" decides that he just doesn't give a damn anymore and goes for it. And go for it he does, I defy anyone who like hip-hop even just a little bit not to be nodding their head during the battle at the end of the film.

Hip Hop fans will lap this film up, drinking in the battles and rap scenes and imagining Eminem in an almost autobiographical role, the film may appeal to others but anyone that cannot stand Hip Hop should leave it be I think that the movie in some ways was written with Eminem in mind and is semi-autobiographical in some aspects, maybe that is what makes this film that much more enjoyable, perhaps Eminem was really just being himself in a role he had already lived through once before.

Overall:

A superb film, well acted with a great soundtrack although not really one for people who are not fans of the man or the genre.

Summary: Superb movie for genre fans