Film

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.

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