|
|
||||
![]() |
![]() |
|||
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
||
![]() |
||||
![]() |
||||
|
|
November 7-13, 2002 movies The Wrong Song
8 Mile tells Eminem's story, but not as well as his music. If there is raw ambition and desire in 8 Mile, most of it is in the syncopated blasts of “Lose Yourself,” Eminem’s advance-released single from the film’s soundtrack. The movie itself is more concerned with showing us how Rabbit, an aspiring rapper whose character is modeled after Eminem, arrives at a point where the passion starts to brew. Director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) gives us the semi-glossy, semi-gritty life of a clan of young adults in 1995 Detroit -- cruising around to the sounds of Notorious B.I.G., smoking weed and thinking about the hos a record deal could help them score. Rabbit is the group's quietest member, revered for his lyrical skills but mocked for his "hot" mother (Kim Basinger) and his trailer-park home on the proverbial wrong side of 8 Mile Road. Rabbit's mother is also unemployed, emotionally abusive and dates a man from Rabbit's graduating class in high school. The family trailer, to which Rabbit returns after a girlfriend announces she is pregnant, is claustrophobic and clenched with violence. Frustrated and ambivalent, Rabbit can't seem to find a way to show off his talents, which seem destined to remain in their provenance of paper scraps. His clan of friends (and would-be entourage) try their hardest to convince him otherwise. Mekhi Phifer, with astoundingly phony dreadlocks, plays Future, who hosts a weekly MC battle at a downtown club and urges Rabbit to freestyle. It's a credit to Eminem that he can play a role close to home and make us forget, if only occasionally, that he is Eminem. Most of the time, Rabbit looks more fragile than angry: The bleached blond hair has been replaced with a buzzcut and his sunken cheeks and small frame give the impression of a mournful vulnerability. (He reportedly lost 20 pounds to play the role.) Even when he gets physically violent, there is a boyish look of fear in Rabbit's eyes.
Enlivened by Eminem's and Basinger's fine performances, 8 Mile is also stilted by the confines of the Great American Triumph story. Most of Rabbit's friends are painted as types, and Brittany Murphy's character, Alex, an ambitious hanger-on who woos Rabbit, is a case of such awful miscasting that one wishes her whole subplot had been lopped off. There's also a discomfiting sense that 8 Mile is some kind of apologia for Eminem the pop star. Amid his friends, Rabbit is the center of wisdom and calm. In one scene we find Rabbit rapping about the difference between "faggots" and "gays"; what he objects to is cowardice, not homosexuality. Too often, he is portrayed as an innocent victimized by his mother, by poverty and by his own fear. What Hanson seems to forget is that Eminem is a compelling persona precisely because of his conflicts and contradictions. Wiping them away makes Rabbit less interesting and the film too simplistic. In the end, it is the too-few battle scenes that make 8 Mile worthwhile. Rabbit's onstage antics have all the self-deprecating humor and wordplay of his real-life prototype. Only here do we understand how an art form can both inspire these characters and provide them with needed escape. But it also raises the deep suspicion that Eminem's life might be best told through his own songs.
-- Respond to this article in our Forums -- click to jump there
Recent Comments
The Fall Guy `Thank you Isaiah for this balanced and enlightening piece. It's good to know quality journalism still exists in this country.` » Philly Beer Scene's beer brunch recipe contest `An great address fro us to share viewpoints ! Thanks for building such great blog !
` » The Fall Guy `So now this poor kid's parents have the added burden of paying private school tuition where they might have avoided it - simply in order to keep their ` » New spring menu items at Fond `I Love Fond, they have the best risoto in Philly, Pa.. I Did really enjoy my dinner there about three months ago, it was great!! The Chef gets my hat ` » Chima Brazilian Steakhouse `I think Chima and the other Brazzillian steak house are both tourist traps, selling mediocre food, at really expensive prices, and making drinks that ` » The Fall Guy `Ackerman should be fired. Racism is racism no matter what color you are.` » The Fall Guy `This is a terrible story (I mean the content, not the reporting). It's still hard to know what happened in this individual case. I hope some outside ` » NOW SEE THIS: Al Bundy shakes it to Major Lazer `fanfuckingtastic!` » The Fall Guy
`There are several problems here, first of which is why do High School students need interpreters? Is it possible that a first step to all of us getting ` »
Popular Articles
Reinventing Arlen One year after he fled the GOP, Pa.'s senior senator is scratching and clawing to do what he does best: survive. The Fall Guy The student the School District blamed for the violence at South Philadelphia High School shares his story. It's not the same one District officials have been telling. The Climb Behind Ladder 15's Ansill-fied revamp. The Next Movement
Oh! Pears' Corey Duncan is assembling an ambitious rock orchestra. ![]() Paddy Whacks Irish Sports Pub: Plastic Debit Cards | Philadelphia Orchestra: Four Tickets for April 8, 2010 | Philadelphia Orchestra: Four Tickets for June 3, 2010 | Hot Hands Studio: $50 for $25 Massage, Skin Care & Body Treatments | Skirmish Paintball | Swanky Bubbles | Gillian's ticket | Hollywood Tans: $50 for $25 | Mango Moon | Firefly Photography HALF OFF DEPOT Why live life at full price? Search Real Estate
Today's Big Deal:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||