Film
Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
- Home
- Box Office
- Listings
- Trailers
- Features
Bookmark this page- Edition:
8 Mile (2002)
Director: Curtis Hanson
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Another fictionalised autobiography from an artist well versed in the uses of an alias, this is purportedly the story of Jimmy Smith, aka 'Rabbit' (Eminem), Detroit trailer trash with a no-account mom (Basinger), a sweet relationship with his baby sis, and a cordon of close friends all hoping to cut a record. Rabbit has talent to burn, but he's too insecure and immature to prove it when it counts. Set in 1995, Scott Silver's screenplay doesn't go far in plot terms - which is good, because the film thrives on the rusty dilapidation which blights Motor City. Director Hanson has always had a keen eye for environment, and this is that rarity a Hollywood movie that treats urban blight as something more than a gritty backdrop. Indeed, if you can imagine a halfway house between Ken Loach and an Elvis Presley vehicle, that could be 8 Mile. There's something of the blue collar populism of Rocky, too, in the rap 'battles' that are Rabbit's testing ground, and they're filmed with the excitement of boxing matches. A hesitant presence whose vulnerability pulls you in, Eminem emerges as a mainstream movie star and effectively lays to rest the spooks of Slim Shady: impressionable parents will love this eminently responsible film.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Curtis Hanson
Producer: Brian Grazer, Curtis Hanson, Jimmy Iovine
Cast: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Evan Jones, Omar Benson Miller, De'Angelo Wilson, Eugene Byrd, Taryn Manning full cast
Duration: 110 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
To the letter
Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.
Mind over matter
David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.
Fool's gold
Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.
We are the championed
Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."
A history of violence
Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.
True romantic
James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.
Playing in the dark
MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.
Junk bonds
Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.
What do you think?
Post your review now