8 Mile 2002
I had heard a lot about this being a great movie. It even made some top 10 lists last year. I thought it was good and it might even get better watching it a second time. I think what critics liked about it was that it was pretty realistic. The people in this movie get nervous when people pull guns on them but don’t blow each other away. That’s probably more like what happens in real life. Eminem is a good rapper but he isn’t that much better than other people around him. I’m not crazy about rap in general but I don’t hate it. In this movie you accept it as an art form and in that sense this isn’t different from movies like Dirty Dancing that climax in a big dance contest. The people are just trashier and more dangerous. And it certainly isn’t only about rap. Eminem was respectable in his acting though he was largely playing himself. Other performances were solid as well: Kim Basinger, for instance, got a lot of credit for looking not as beautiful as she is.
So I don’t think it is a great movie, but it is a good movie. As long as rap doesn’t turn your stomach it’s worth watching. I’ll give it a B.
Owned on: Digital