I'm not a huge rap music fan and can name the amount of rappers I've heard of on one hand if I'm honest. I have heard a fair bit of Eminem's music as my granddaughter is very keen and I quite like the humour and/or stories he tells in his songs. When this film first came out I wasn't overly excited to watch it I just figured I'd get round to it and it's managed to take me ten years since it came out in 2002!

I'm not sure if the film is meant to be about Eminem's life when he was starting out or if it is just about a fictional character in a similar situation. The film centres around Jimmy Smith Jr, also known as B-Rabbit. It follows his life struggling to make it as a rapper in a poorly paid job living at home with his mum. It shows the struggles with gangs and living in a rough neighbourhood whilst having big dreams.

The acting in the film is really good. Aside from Brittany Murphy and Eminem, I didn't recognise the cast but my Granddaughter said there are some other big rapping names in there too. The acting in the film is good and there's some really fun dialogue throughout the film.

The storyline isn't paticularly exciting aside from the rap battles which I found to be really nerve wrecking and good to watch. I felt like the lack of excitement made the film a little bit though as it's showing someone with big dreams struggling to get by and the bleak storyline helps you to sympathise and feel for B-rabbit for some reason.

The music in the film is song's written by Eminem which I think is fitting given the storyline. I think it was a great idea to cast Eminem as he could do the singing and rapping for the film really well. The rap battles featured in the film are brilliant although I had to rewind and watch them all a couple of times to get to grips with what was being said as they're so fast. The lyrics are really good and made me smile.
I think this film gave me a different outlook on rap music to be honest as I did just consider it to be talking really quickly and not very skillfull but I can't imagine how difficult it actually must be.

I'm a fan of Brittany Murphy but didn't like her character in this film at all and I really wish they had cast someone else as I just really didn't think it suited her. She's quite glamorous and always plays a nice role in films that I've seen and its the one aspect of the movie I didn't like. I was suprised by Eminem's acting as I usually think that singers and actors should stick to what they're good at but I think he did a pretty good job in this film and would be interested to see him in something else.


Overall, this is a good film. There's some good dialogue, action bits and music throughout and I think it makes it worth watching. It's an older film now so you can probably catch it on Sky movies like I did or buy the DVD for a couple of pound.