A young rapper, struggling with every aspect of his life, wants to make it big but his friends and foes make this odyssey of rap harder than it may seem.
The setting is Detroit in 1995. The city is divided by 8 Mile, a road that splits the town in half along racial lines. A young white rapper, Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. summons strength within himself to cross over these arbitrary boundaries to fulfill his dream of success in hip hop. With his pal Future and the three one third in place, all he has to do is not choke.Written by
yusufpiskin
Proof, the inspiration for the character Future, was sought by producers to play that role in the film. However, Proof failed to show up for the audition and director Curtis Hanson decided that he wanted a more experienced actor to play Future. Proof was then cast in the smaller role of Lil' Tic. See more »
Goofs
When Alex and Jimmy are having sex at the plant, a man is visible in the background briefly running around. See more »
Quotes
Female Lunch Truck Rapper:
[Rapping]
Man, I'm so sick and tired of fucking with this steel. They only give us thirty minutes to eat lunch and chill. My body achin', just to get a buck. I'm sick of eating this shit off this fucking lunch truck. Nasty ass food, I'm in a nasty ass mood. I should've called in sick. Shit, I had something to do.
Male Lunch Truck Rapper:
[Rapping]
I can't believe I'm hearing all this ravin' and rantin', from Vanessa, up in here at the New Detroit stampin. You need to get your food and take your ass back to work. Your ...
[...] See more »
Crazy Credits
The final credit reads, "Filmed on location in the 313" See more »
Alternate Versions
In the Syndicated Edited For TV Version all the curse word {fuck,shit,bitch,dyke,dick,pussy,} are all masked out but when they are rapping it is replaced with a record scratch and some scenes are altered. See more »
Survival Of The Fittest
Written by Prodigy (as Albert Johnson) and Havoc (as Kejuan Muchita)
Performed by Mobb Deep
Courtesy of The RCA Records Label, A Unit of BMG Music
Under license from BMG Special Products See more »
I enjoyed this movie immensely. I thought it was a departure from the typical movies that star Hip-hop artists nowadays, which typically glorify the hip-hop lifestyle. Which is a very material lifestyle. This movie was pretty dark.
I thought Eminem did a good job acting. I mean he's not going to win any Oscars for this role, but he does a very good job acting. If not for who he is, then you wouldn't pay too much attention to his acting because that's how competent he does.
As most of you already have heard, this movie was based on Eminem's life, but none of the events are actually factual. His relationship with his mother (Basinger) is much more amiable than it is in real life, or at least how it comes across in his music.
Brittany Murphy acts as his love interest, but most importantly his muse.
There are some scenes that leave you scratching your head. One of which is the Eminem-Murphy love scene in the plant. It seems out of place and bad for the pacing of the film. Also Taryn Manning's role as the ex-girlfriend is almost unnecessary. The presence of her character is a key plot element that sets up the film, but the appearance of her character in the film by its end seems unnecessary due to the fact that it is underdeveloped. I wonder if there were more scenes involving Manning that were ultimately deleted via editing.
Overall I enjoyed the movie. Some may not enjoy it as much, but that's probably because they go into the movie with different expectations. If you're expecting something other than a hip-hop based film that subtly comments on social/economic/racial issues, and is a pseudo-rags to riches story, then you might be sorely disappointed.
73 of 90 people found this review helpful.
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I enjoyed this movie immensely. I thought it was a departure from the typical movies that star Hip-hop artists nowadays, which typically glorify the hip-hop lifestyle. Which is a very material lifestyle. This movie was pretty dark.
I thought Eminem did a good job acting. I mean he's not going to win any Oscars for this role, but he does a very good job acting. If not for who he is, then you wouldn't pay too much attention to his acting because that's how competent he does.
As most of you already have heard, this movie was based on Eminem's life, but none of the events are actually factual. His relationship with his mother (Basinger) is much more amiable than it is in real life, or at least how it comes across in his music.
Brittany Murphy acts as his love interest, but most importantly his muse.
There are some scenes that leave you scratching your head. One of which is the Eminem-Murphy love scene in the plant. It seems out of place and bad for the pacing of the film. Also Taryn Manning's role as the ex-girlfriend is almost unnecessary. The presence of her character is a key plot element that sets up the film, but the appearance of her character in the film by its end seems unnecessary due to the fact that it is underdeveloped. I wonder if there were more scenes involving Manning that were ultimately deleted via editing.
Overall I enjoyed the movie. Some may not enjoy it as much, but that's probably because they go into the movie with different expectations. If you're expecting something other than a hip-hop based film that subtly comments on social/economic/racial issues, and is a pseudo-rags to riches story, then you might be sorely disappointed.