It’s been a full decade since the arrival of Eminem’s debut album ‘The Slim Shady LP’ and eight years since the Oscar-winning ‘8-Mile’, a loose recounting of Eminem’s own life – wow, where does the time go? ‘8 Mile’ remains rousing, honest (if unmistakably mass appeal) entertainment.
Looking at other music superstar vanity projects i.e. ‘Spice World’ and ‘Glitter’, ‘8 Mile’ is the gritty antithesis to those films and actually bears more resemblance to ‘Purple Rain’, at least a twenty-year evolution of that film. Both represent thinly disguised characters amongst actual hardships with an eagerness to shed real light on humble beginnings.
On the eve of a possible Eminem comeback (his new album hits in May after years of self-exile), rewatching the pic is an almost nostalgic trip down recent memory lane. Although I was never a huge fan despite being in that prime demographic at the time (suburban, early twenties, white), I admired the talent and bluntness of his songs if not quite enjoying them.
His pumping Oscar-winning song ‘Lose Yourself’, the anthem to ‘8 Mile’ that plays full over the end credits, seems to be the culmination of all he had to say – as we see Eminem walk through the alley to go back to work in the final frames of the film, that chapter of his life is closed, what else does he have to say? I’ll be curious of that on his next album.
The film itself is certainly stirring yet the basic framework, scripted by Scott Silver, is conventional nonetheless – another take on that ‘Great White Hope’, ‘Rocky’ rise from the ashes tale, just take ‘Rocky’ and swap out rapping for boxing and you’ll come close to the progress of the story.
That it’s another variation of this story doesn’t take away from the entertaining feats of the rap battles, though, that Curtis Hanson directs with aplomb.
Coming off a two-picture high of ‘L.A. Confidential’ and ‘Wonder Boys’, Hanson was a peculiar choice to helm but was no doubt chosen wisely as he grounded the story in a realism that could have easily fallen on the wrong side of the fence (I’m looking at you ‘Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogalo’!). We first meet up with Eminem as alter-ego Jimmy Smith about to go on stage at ‘The Shelter’, a downtrodden Detroit rap club, with his own alter-ego B-Rabbit.
In the bathroom, staring hard at the mirror and psyching himself up for the rap battle, he runs to vomit. This does not bode well for what’s to come. Sure enough, as the microphone is handed to him, he looks out at the mob of angry, black faces and chokes. He needs and wants their respect but this clearly won’t be the night. That we know, from this opening sequence on, where the climax will fall doesn’t take away from the trip.
We follow Smith on his day to day miseries. Leaving his pregnant girlfriend, and leaving her the car, he has no choice but to move back in with his mother Stephanie (Kim Basinger) who is the very definition of trailer trash.
Jobless, irresponsible and pinning her hopes either on bingo or her deadbeat boyfriend Greg (Michael Shannon) who entices her with an insurance settlement that’s due to arrive at any time.
It’s no surprise that Jimmy and Greg are at each other’s throats but Jimmy generally holds back due to his young sister Lily being a witness. His mom means well, however, where this no more apparent than when she hands him the key to her clunker of a vehicle.
Living in the 8 Mile trailer park, the road that separates the more affluent white suburbs from the decay of inner-city Detroit, Jimmy spends his days toiling away at an auto factory and his nights causing purposeful mischief with his supportive posse.
The thoughtful, religious Future (Mekhi Phifer) who hosts the rap battles and knows the genius of Jimmy Smith, the big bear of the group Sol (Omar Benson Miller), his serious-minded brother DJ Iz (De’Angelo Wilson) and the group chucklehead Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones) drink, plan and seem to stay from serious drugs while constantly on the offense or defense with a rival group of seemingly affluent rappers who always pwn at ‘The Shelter’ rap battles.
Threads of the story – his mom being evicted, his newfound interest in groupie Alex (Brittany Murphy), Cheddar Bob accidentally shooting himself – all of course come together and lead up the final climatic rap battle where Jimmy Smith aka B-Rabbit once and for all has to prove to himself and others that there might be some light at the end of this tunnel.
It’s an electrifying almost gladiatorial sequence where B-Rabbit has to go up against three increasingly difficult opponents (all part of the rival crew) where the crowd decides the champ.
The battles consist of improv’d lyrical raps, a sort-of rap roast with a constant escalating rhyme of verbal insults and abuse as the opponent has to stand there and take it. Despite the obvious imagery of a white guy standing up against all-black opponents, the racism seems almost beside the point, particularly with the crowd who is quick to side with the best regardless of color.
Eminem makes one heck of an acting debut even if Jimmy Smith is only a version of himself. That he’s outstanding in the rap battles is to be expected but his more quite moments with the crew and violent rages with his rivals or mother are also equally well handled. There’s honesty and verve to his performance that’s probably not a performance at all, the camera just happens to be there.
All supporting work is great to the lived-in characters surrounding him at work to his crew who make up an affable and sincere group of dreamers. Also key is Rodrigo Prieto’s cinematography that brings the gritty practicality of how he shot ‘Amores Perros’ to ‘8 Mile’ with simple, dreary images that aptly fits the mood.
The film is presented with a 1080p 2.35:1 MPEG4 encode and is true to the slightly grainy source material. Intentionally made with a bit of grit, detail and color is still strong and there’s some great depth to the picture. Not exactly demo worthy but certainly true to the film.
A DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 track is provided and does a bang-up job presenting the music-heavy sections of the film. Outside of the music, the film is mostly dialogue driven but well captured and clear despite a lot of on-location shooting.
The special features are oddly a bit slim and were carried over from the previous DVD release. A fluffy 10-minute making of starts things off, a uncensored music video for ‘Superman’ and the most intriguing extra, Uncensored Rap Battles’ that takes a look at the auditions for some rappers who will do battle with Eminem in the film.
There’s also some footage from rap battles and some live performances from Eminem. Cool but for all the success of this film, peculiarly underwhelming.
For fans of Eminem, this is a no-brainer but even for those that don’t necessarily consider themselves rap fans, this might be worth a watch. Taking away the 20 minutes of rap in the film, you actually get a well-made portrayal of inner-city life with sharp performances and an inspiring message.
The Blu-ray specs are good even if the special features disappoint but this is still an easy recommend.
8 Mile [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story