8 Mile

Directed by Curtis Hanson, 8 Mile follows Eminem’s Jimmy Smith as he attempts to overcome a series of obstacles, including a troubled home life and a serious case of stage fright, to become the next big thing in the world of rap. It’s a low-key, character-study-like premise that’s employed to persistently watchable (and periodically electrifying) effect by Hanson, as the filmmaker, working from Scott Silver’s screenplay, delivers a deliberately-paced yet stirring drama that benefits from its atmosphere of palpable authenticity and raft of compelling, engaging performances – with, in terms of the latter, Eminem’s impressively convincing work here matched by a roster of such above-average periphery players as Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, and Mekhi Phifer. (Michael Shannon, cast as the sleazeball dating Jimmy’s mother, is certainly as entertaining and captivating as one might’ve hoped.) And although the overlong running time and somewhat meandering midsection results in a handful of narrative lulls, 8 Mile builds towards an engrossing climax that ensures it concludes on a completely satisfying (and unexpectedly absorbing) note – which does, in the final analysis, cement the picture’s place as a mostly effective (and sporadically affecting) endeavor that shines a light on a fairly fascinating subculture.

*** out of ****

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