Rating: 
Summary: Give credit where credit is due.
Review: First, I'd just like to ask moviefan2002 a quick question. Did you even see the movie? "Rabbit" doesn't work at the club, he works at a plant. Brittany Murphy is NOT a prostitute. There are a million other things that makes me think you didn't even see the movie, and if you did, you obviously weren't paying attention.Anyway, this movie was, in my opinion, very good. I even shed a couple of tears. It really helps you understand the way people live in Detroit (especially on 8 Mile Rd.), and hopefully it will make people think twice before they hate on someone they don't even know. (Eminem, for example.) I don't claim to know him, but I sure appreciate where he's coming from.
Rating:
Summary: Can a rapper act?
Review: Do you want the answer to that question from someone who saw the movie? YES! I thought Eminem was just a rapper and will always be just a rapper. But after seing 8 mile...I was most definitely proved wrong! 8 mile is about a guy named Rabbit (Eminem) who simply just wants some respect. Respect is hard to find across 8 mile (a road in Detroit that seperates the blacks from the whites) if you are white, but Rabbit doesn't give up. He just keeeps trying, if you want to find out if he earns the respect, go see the best movie in the world: 8 mile.
Rating: 
Summary: 8 mile
Review: I was very impressed with Eminem's acting. I hope to see him in other movies soon. I would like to see him in a different type of role. I gave 8 mile 4 stars because I have to acknowledge that this movis isn't for everyone (especially anyone under 17). Eminem is very natural in front of tbe camera and is a natural actor. I have to confess that I have a crush on Eminem as a result of this movie. I can't forget the other awesome performances as well, including Academy-Award-winning Kim Basinger. If you like hip-hop music I can guarentee you will like this movie for the awesome soundtrack alone. I couldn't help bobbing my head and tapping my foot throughout the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: Eric's review of "8 Mile"
Review: Don't believe all the hype. "8 Mile" isn't an excellent movie. It's good, don't get me wrong. But it could've been better. Controversial white rapper Eminem plays Jimmy (or "Rabbit" as hes called in the film) who lives in a Trailer Park with his daughter Lily and his Mom (Kim Bessenger). in Detroit. He spends most of his time working at a car plant, very appropriate for Detroit of course. But as we find out, that's only to make a living. He just so happens to have mad rap skills. His three friends keep the movie funny. His best friend of the group it seems is David (or "Future") played by Mekhi Phifer ("Save The Last Dance") who does an excellent job. Rabbit attempts several times to try and rap in front of a crowd where he would be noticed for record deals, but ends up freezing on stage everytime because of the crowd's booing. Eventually the plot thickens and a relationshjp with is Mom and Daughter grow. Rabbit also ends up meeting a girl with a similar background aspiring to become a model, played by newcomer actress Brittany Murphy. This movie seemed at times to be "Choppy" in some parts, and the other non-famous actors didn't seem to do that well. Oscar-nominated actress Kim Bessenger ("Bless The Child", "I Dreamed of Africa") did a great job as Jimmy's mother. The swearing in the movie was rather harsh and wouldn't be reccomended for anyone under 15. Because this movie is semi-autobiographical (similar to Mariah's "Glitter" in that case), we get a glimpse into what was once Eminem's life. After seeing this movie I also had a lot more respect for rappers who get popular by the streets as well as people who live in Trailer Parks. I would reccomend this movie if you are a fan of Eminem, or just want a fun Hip-Hop movie.
Rating:
Summary: Not Horrible ** 1/2
Review: Eminem was actually pretty good in this film, and I am not a fan. The story was cheezy. I guess you have to be a big rap fan to really get into it. Kim Basinger seemed out of place. I said the same thing when I saw her in one of the most terrible films I have ever seen,"Bless the Child". It was soo bad! I am usually a fan of Brittany Murphy, but I thought she played a stupid role. Because of her newly found fame, I feel she has lost that spark that she once had in her previous films. 8 Mile is definately a teenager movie, it was not made to appeal to adults! But before you let your youngster see this film, be advised that there are a couple of racy sex scenes, violence and lots of foul language! The film is also very dark and gloomy. I really wanted to hate 8 Mile because of all of the Eminem hype, but overall, it wasn't that horrible. To the Eminem fan, you will enjoy him in this film.
Rating:
Summary: A reasonable start
Review: I didn't go into this movie expecting a masterpiece. Expectations were met in some places, and not in others. The truth of the matter is, Eminem does a reasonable job in his first film. The major flaw I found was that this film didn't give him all that much to do until the end, when he truly becomes the film's focal point during the climactic battle scenes. Early on, the film can't seem to make up its mind who it wants to focus its attention most on. The supporting cast are effective, nothing spectacular, but are an excellent foil for Eminem to work off of. Some on here have complained about the foul language, but this movie seemed to me a great deal more toned down than I expected it to be. I feared it would approach the excessive levels found on his album's worst songs. Instead, it showed a different side. It showed that there is more than just an angry man behind the microphone. And as for what to make of the supposed defense of gays, it seemed somewhat forced, yet somehow it worked just the same. In any case, it's not worth dissecting the movie over that one point. If you're a fan of eminem's, definitely go see this movie. If you're not, go see it just the same. It offers a look into not just the life of the fictional character Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith, but also at the world of hip-hop that most people don't usually see in the day-to-day machinations of pre-fab hip-hop "artists" that pollute the airwaves today... It serves double duty here in acting as a kind of eye opener to this world. And as for those of you who claim Eminem is whining - he may be rich now, but this movie isn't meant to represent the here and now, something those of you writing such reviews might do well to remember. Do other actors/actresses who are now rich get lambasted so viciously for playing down on their luck characters? I've read enough to see that they don't. So get off the random hate bandwagon and open your eyes to what Eminem can do. You might just be surprised.
Rating:
Summary: Great Urban Story
Review: I know this will probably become a painful cliche, but you do not have to be an Eminem fan to like this movie. The movie is a classic little guy makes it big, set in the urban blight of Detroit. Eminem plays Rabbit, a biographical portrait of himself. His life is going no where, with a dead end low paying job, a failing mother, and a neighborhood torn with racial strife. The only way out is rap music. Every weekend, the young people of the ghetto converge and do "battle", which is a verbal version of Gladiator duels. These confrontations become the most entertaining part of the movie, with some real high intensity and humourous rhymes. Outside of the "shelter" as the club is called, Rabbit as to deal with his collection of friends, rival rapping gangs, and a romantic fling with a young girl from the neighborhood. The story is very well paced and the picture well directed by Curtis Hanson, one of the best directors working today. While Eminem isn't absolutely amazing, he shows that he definitly has the potential to be a good actor. The supporting cast is superb as well. A very good movie that anyone can enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: "Great entertaining drama"
Review: Controversial rapper Eminem stars in 8 Mile, a film that will leave viewers undissapointed despite its foul language, violence, and sex. 8 Mile is definetely not afraid to show the cold and violent streets of Detroit, where a crime is comitted every second. Eminem stars as Jimmy Smiths Jr., otherwise known as Rabbit. By day, Rabbit is a worker in a broken down factory. By night, he is a rapper working at "The Shelter" a club where rappers face off for money. He hardly wins because the audience always hates him and calls him a "white rapper in black neighborhood" After that, he returns to his trailer home (usually beaten up by the gangs that stalk the streets)where he has to deal with other problems, including his usually drunk mother (Kim Basinger) who continuously is dating people half her age. After Rabbit gives up at a concert, his friend Future (Mekhi Phifer) encourages him to go on and signs him up for a face-off against a black rapper who currently holds the championship at the Shelter. The movie displays a wide variety of events that happen from the the start of the week (Rabbit losing) and end of the week (Rabbit facing off against the other rapper). Included in the mix is Brittany Murphy, who plays a prostitute and Eminem's love interest. Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) did a fine job directing but I didn't feel like it was the right film for him to direct, partly it features so much rap and the "F" word is said about 175 times. Brian Grazer (A Beautiful Mind) was a good producer and really made the movie much better though the writer added so much foul language. Hanson and Grazer - Great combination. Though this is a film meant for adults, some kids should be let to see it because its a very hard-hitting drama and features their idol. Excellent film! Directed by Curtis Hanson.
Produced by Brian Grazer.
Time: 111 minutes.
Rated R for strong language, two scenes with some sexuality and one scene with strong sexuality, violence, drug use, and mature themes.
Rating:
Summary: 8 M!LE !$ @ GHETT0L!C!0U$
Review: I was talking last week to a female friend who had also seen `8 Mile.' She described it in a rather odd fashion as `ghettolicious' which kinda took me aback, but after musing on it over the time span of several classes, I realized that ghettolicious is the best way to sum up the film. It can be used to describe storyline, plot and characters, which would give me an easy one-word method for writing this review, but read on for the other words, please. In the slums of northern Detroit, a young dreamer, Jimmy Smith Jr. (Eminem) a.k.a. Rabbit, is stuck in a vicious circle of working in a metal-stamping plant and living at home with his alcoholic mother (Kim Basinger), his innocent younger sister, and his mother's live-in boyfriend (who happens to be basically Smith's age). Rabbit's only hope of salvation is in his innate talent to rap. Rabbit does have one thing going for him-a solid core of friends including the influential Future (Mekhi Phifer), the good-hearted (yet argumentative) brothers, DJ Iz (De'Angelo Wilson) and Sol George (Omar Benson Miller) and the dimwitted follower Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones). Also (sorta) on Rabbit's side is his muse and lover Alex (Brittany Murphy). In the span of a week starting when Smith chokes in a rap insult battle, the viewer sees his fall to the bottom of his miserable existence to the inevitable rising from the ashes and trailer parks of the grittiest part of Detroit, the 8 Mile district. Firstly, I need to admit that I am not a very big fan of rap-in fact my CD collection mainly consists of artists who have been around long enough to have `Greatest Hits' albums out. Nonetheless, `8 Mile' drew me into the entertaining and diverse field of rap, which was excellently articulated in Eminem's rap-parody of `Sweet Home Alabama,' which was one of the highlights of the film. But despite the whole entertainment quality of the ghettolicious soundtrack, I doubt I will be heading out to supplement my music with rap, but that's no knock against the film. In his screen debut, I was expecting Eminem to fall flat on his face and turn in a train wreck of a performance. Instead, he was excellent, or in other words, ghettolicious, here, displaying multiple facets of a considerable talent for characterization. It was not quite an Oscar-worthy performance, but it does stick out at me as one of the top ten that I have seen this year. Also noteworthy was Kim Basinger's ghettolicious showing as a stereotypical white trailer-trash single woman with a drinking problem. Through her man problems to her bingo addictions to her hard-boozing habits, she walks the narrow line of being a character to be both pitied and despised for her weaknesses. Plotwise, well there really was not all that much worth mentioning-basically, it is a musical adaptation of `Rocky' with all the suspense of the ending of `Rocky IV' (along with some ghettolicious additions that make it more pathetic in setting and up-to-date in timing)(thanks to a fellow IMDb user for pointing that out!). Look at `Rocky' vs. `8 Mile'-young white protagonist with authority problems fights his way to an improbable victory while along the way meeting a woman that changes his life. It's been done before, but `8 Mile' adds ghettolicious scenes, quite a few F-bombs and a richer (yet grittier) coating that makes the whole package seem nearly new. Despite my lacking of a background in the world of rap (who said movie reviewers were perfect?), I was genuinely pleased by director Curtis Hanson's final product, and with maybe a bit more suspense added to the unavoidable ending, `8 Mile' would have been the best film I have seen this year. Regardless, `8 Mile' is an excellent and ghettolicious film deserving of a 5 out of 5.
Rating:
Summary: Taking a Chance to Make a Change
Review: It's been little more than a year since Mariah Carey proved "Glitter" is not gold. A mere seven months have passed since Britney's "Crossroads" experience summed up the destruction of 40 years worth of feminist progress. And now Eminem, rap's bad, white guy, takes a drive down "8 Mile," making a case that he's both a serious artist and a serious actor. Critics argue he is neither; whether it's the PC crowd from the left or the "gotta be offended at something" crowd from the right, it's easy to hate someone who presents such an easy target. But, like Elvis, a figure Eminem references several times in his songs, he continues to appeal to youth and upset the adults, all while making oodles of money and, now, films worthy of praise. "8 Mile" (the name refers to the road in Detroit that separates the white suburbs from the black inner-city) showcases a week in the life of wannabe rapper Rabbit. Like Eminem, Rabbit fights for respect in the black-dominated rap underground. Like Eminem, Rabbit lives with his mother in a trailer park. And like Em, Rabbit is desperate for a way to get out. His friends encourage him to become involved with "battles," 45-second freestyle raps where two contestants try to insult each other, and the best insults win. Although Rabbit readily lets his rhymes slip at work and at play, when it's crunch time, he chokes. The movie opens with Rabbit blowing a contest, and then stumbling home to explain to his alcoholic mother (a perfectly cast Kim Bassinger) that he broke up with his "pregnant" girlfriend and gave her the car. The movie then moves through a series of vignettes - Rabbit at work, Rabbit at play, Rabbit in love, Rabbit rapping - with the desperation of his situation tightening like choke-collar. The "plot" is loose at best; "8 Mile" could best be described as a slice-of-life with a "Rocky"-like ending (like we didn't know that was coming). The utter poverty and hopelessness which pervades the film is superceded by a single ray of hope: that there may be a way, through talent, to rise above the cycle of poverty that has dragged every one of Rabbit's friends and family into despair. It finally becomes a decision between working overtime for guaranteed cash, or taking a risk and aiming for something more - a choice that any creative person will recognize. "8 Mile" works because it ignores its star and stays true to the spirit of creativity. What could easily have been a "look at me" movie for Eminem remains a "look at THIS' movie about creative people trapped in the worst of urban conditions. The ending of the film does not have Rabbit signing a multi-million dollar record deal, or marrying the girl, or becoming a superstar. It's a small but important victory in a person's life, and keeps the entire film in perspective. Director Curtis Hanson did the impossible: took a musical artist and turned him into a great actor in a very good movie. Take a walk down "8 Mile," but check your cynicism at the door. Final Grade: A-
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