THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
If you had one shot, one opportunity, to seize everything you ever wanted, would you capture it or just let it slip?
PLOT
8 Mile takes place in 1995 Detroit. The story follows Jimmy Smith Jr aka B Rabbit, who aspires to be a rapper. One night, he chokes during a rap battle and leaves humiliated. After breaking up with his girlfriend Janeane (Taryn Manning), he goes to live with his mother Stephanie, along with his younger sister Lily (Chloe Greenfield) and his mother's abusive boyfriend Greg. As a blue collar worker, he gets paid working at a car factory and begs for extra shifts in order to get extra cash. His boss Manny (Paul Bates) does not consider it at the moment as he points out his excessive tardiness. Aside from his group of friends that make up the '313', Host David 'Future' Porter, DJ Iz (De'Angelo Wilson), Sol George (Omar Benson Miller) and Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones), he is in good acquaintance with radio djay Wink, who claims to have ties with a record label promoter and claims to put in good word for him. Rabbit now has his mother's car to drive around, despite not being in good condition. One night, he and his friends go out and it goes off the walls. Rabbit shows off his rap skills outside the parking lot of a bar and briefly get into a scuffle with an opposing rap group known as 'Leaders of the Free World'. It only gets broken up thanks to Wink who promotes the latter. After this confrontation, Rabbit meets a girl named Alex who aspires to be a model and openly believes he has potential to be a great artist. He and the guys even decide to conclude the night of shenanigans by igniting fire on an abandoned house where a little girl was once raped. The next day, Stephanie discovers that she is soon to be evicted and doesn't want to tell Greg, worried of upsetting him. After a shift at work, Rabbit and 313 get into another fight with the Free World and it ends bloody when Bob accidentally shoots himself in the leg, originally hoping to scare their rival. After he gets checked into the hospital, Future expresses his dislike towards Wink, believing him to be a scammer. On another day at work, Rabbit shows off his skill during a lunch break and Alex notices it. Impressed of him highly, they end up secretly having sex at the workplace. When he comes home at night, he is caught off guard seeing her and Wink meet Stephanie and Lily, feeling embarrassed that he lives with his mother. Although Alex cheers him up by saying he shouldn't be ashamed of where he lives, Wink gives him good news when revealing he arranged for him to meet with producers at a recording studio. The next day, he kicks out Greg for being abusive toward his mother over the eviction. This still disappoints her because they break up just when he got his settlement check, which could've saved them from the eviction. He then gets upset at Future for scheduling him to perform at the Shelter again, afraid of choking up again. By night, he does to the studio as arranged, only to find Wink having sex with Alex. He angrily reacts by beating him senseless in the studio. By the time he returns home, Wink and the Free World assault him outside the home, where Lily sadly sees it happen. Once they leave, Stephanie returns with good news that she $3200 at a bingo tournament which'll avoid the eviction. The next day, he is supposed to get his night shift as requested, but it happens to be on the night he's supposed to perform at the Shelter. Luckily, his co worker Paul (Craig Chandler) agrees to cover the start of the shift, out of respect for sticking up for him at the rap battle during lunch. When he gets there, he doesn't choke this time and wins two separate rounds against Free World members Lyckety-Splyt (Gerald Sanders) and Lotto (Nashawn Breedlove). In the third and final round, he goes against the group's leader Papa Doc. He ends up defeating him with ease by not only acknowledging his difficult life, but exposes Doc's privileged upbringing when posing as a thug, causing the opponent to forfeit once he hands the microphone to Future. After a satisfying victory, Rabbit turns down a position by Future to co host upcoming battles, believing that he needs to do his own thing. The film ends with him being praised by his friends as he heads back to work.
THOUGHTS
I love music like any sane person would and my favorite genre has always been hip hop/rap. Knowing a movie with a favorable subject, I was bound to see it and fall in love with it as I still do now. Director Curtis Hanson and Writer Scott Silver caught me off guard by showing a story where its core is to keep chasing the dream before its too late. And if you don't go for it, you'll regret it. There will be stumbling times along the way, but it all be worth it when you get where you want to be. This theme is universal and it is no exception when wanting to be a musical star. When you look in the shoes of B Rabbit, played excellently by actual rapper Marshall Mathers aka Eminem, you feel his feeling of worry that maybe success will never come. He is a guy that is determined to let the world know what he can do, but he realizes that it can only happen when he puts in the work. He fell for Alex because aside from being pretty, he respected her own determination to do what she wanted to do. Seeing her motivate herself motivated him to do the same. He didn't fight back against Free World on his own because he knew it'd be worse if he did. It becomes worth it because he figured out how to get even. When he owns Papa Doc, it was the most magical thing I ever saw in this film and that feeling is exactly what movies are about, feeling magical. Considering that he became an overnight success off of that battle, that set the stone for a future he will forever be grateful of. 'Lose Yourself' is easily one of the best songs to be made because of how it sticks with the movie's theme to chase your dream before you miss it. While Eminem carries this film to the top, there is no way he did this alone as it was filled with supporting standouts. Alex may not be the best love interest, but the late Brittany Murphy expressed her as someone who felt like she had to do what she had to do to get where she wanted to be. She gave interest in Rabbit because she oddly saw herself in him, a point where she was at doubt before she pushed herself to do what she wanted. While they are definitely not dating after what happened between them, that doesn't mean they won't keep in touch. I mean them flipping each other off is the most random meet cute you'll ever get. Kim Basinger straight up gives another great performance in the most tragic of characters she has ever played. Stephanie is someone who has been in rock bottom for a long time and had no motivation from anyone other than her son to get back on track. Seeing her score the lottery showed that having faith in little things will be a blessing. Michael Shannon has played of assholes, but the role of Greg feels different. This was a guy that had his issues and made a big mistake picking on the wrong family. His exit is the true blessing because at the end, Stephanie never needed him like she thought. While the 313 always know how to have a good time, Future is the only other guy from the group that is trying to do something with his life. Mekhi Phifer presents him as one whose a good host because he knows how to get the crowd going. He is a people person and that is key in that kind of job. It was actually pretty smart of him to put Rabbit into the show because he knows he needs the clout to set up the path he desires. He is looking out for his friend, whether he liked or not. It is pretty easy to hate on Wink because Eugene Byrd is on point making him a stingy figure. Most of the time, he is just all talk and doesn't have all the connections he would claim. He is extremely manipulative and he knows it, which is why it is easy for him to talk to Rabbit and the Free World because the promise is too good to be true. Last but not least, I don't want to overrate Anthony Mackie, but for a brief period of time, even he had decent bars in the role of Papa Doc. This guy is as much of a poser as Wink because he is dying to fit in and he shows it'll backfire when you try to pretend being something you're not. This film is without a doubt mesmerizing, but even one as great as this has its own set of flaws. Like first off, how is the bathroom at the Shelter not packed when there are so many people shown in attendance for the rap battle? One guy knocks, but I refuse to believe only one other guy had to go during an event like this. I don't want to point out vomit, but how did Rabbit hit the hoodie when he went headfirst into the toilet? That is so odd of an continuity error and it feels like there is no point having hi embarrassed before he chokes. I'm also tripped out of how 313 and Free World go to the same bar after their scuffle at the parking lot. That's just a random way to set up tension when it just halted. I'm honestly even more confused of why does Rabbit abandon his car after Wink and Future argue? It makes sense to do it avoid cops, but that was not the case at all. How does seeing your friends argue spark that leaving the car is a good idea. You want to talk about dumb moments? The dumbest one this movie has will always be how Wink and Alex choose to have sex at a main studio, when they knew Rabbit was coming. I don't care if they thought it sounded sexy to do it there, they should have hid elsewhere if they didn't want him to know. It's even more confusing of how Wink actually makes Free World think he's the victim when he's the one who fucked up. The fact that we don't see that scene makes it appalling to believe. Try to ignore this stuff and you'll still enjoy this movie for what it is. To rap up, 8 Mile is a better movie than you expect for being the most motivational of its kind. If you need such motivation to do what you want to do, see this as soon as possible.
For you, G.
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