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| producer = Curtis Hanson<br />[[Brian Grazer]]<br />[[Jimmy Iovine]]
| producer = Curtis Hanson<br />[[Brian Grazer]]<br />[[Jimmy Iovine]]
| writer = [[Scott Silver]]
| writer = [[Scott Silver]]
| starring = [[Eminem]]<br />[[Kim Basinger]]<br />[[Brittany Murphy]]<br />[[Mekhi Phifer]]<br />[[Michael Shannon]]
| starring = [[Eminem]]<br />[[Kim Basinger]]<br />[[Brittany Murphy]]<br />[[Mekhi Phifer]]<!--DO NOT CHANGE THIS CAST, THIS IS ACCORDING TO THE CREDIT BLOCK ON THE POSTER!-->
| music = [[Eminem]]
| music = [[Eminem]]
| cinematography = [[Rodrigo Prieto]]
| cinematography = [[Rodrigo Prieto]]

Revision as of 09:23, 21 April 2014

8 Mile
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCurtis Hanson
Written byScott Silver
Produced byCurtis Hanson
Brian Grazer
Jimmy Iovine
StarringEminem
Kim Basinger
Brittany Murphy
Mekhi Phifer
CinematographyRodrigo Prieto
Edited byJay Rabinowitz
Music byEminem
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • November 8, 2002 (2002-11-08)
Running time
110 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$41 million[2]
Box office$242,875,078[2]

8 Mile is a 2002 American hip-hop drama film written by Scott Silver, directed by Curtis Hanson, and starring Eminem, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy, Michael Shannon, and Kim Basinger.

The film is an account of a young white rapper named Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. (Eminem) living in inner city Detroit, Michigan set in 1995, and his attempt to launch a rap career in a genre dominated by African Americans. The film's title is derived from 8 Mile Road, the dividing line between Detroit and its upper class suburbs.

Filmed mostly on location in Detroit and its surrounding areas, the film was a critical and financial success. Eminem won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself," the song which was iconic to this film. A decade after its release, Vibe magazine called the film a "hip-hop movie masterpiece."[3]

Plot

The film begins in Detroit in 1995 with Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith (Eminem), a young and unhappy blue-collar worker from a poor family, struggling with different aspects of his life. He has moved back north of 8 Mile Road to the rundown trailer home in Warren, Michigan of his alcoholic mother, Stephanie (Kim Basinger), his little sister Lily (Chloe Greenfield), and Stephanie's abusive live-in boyfriend Greg (Michael Shannon). Jimmy is focused on getting his music career started, but he seems unable to catch a break after being booed off by the audience for choking. Just prior to the events of the film, he ends a relationship with his girlfriend, Janeane (Taryn Manning), and during the film, begins a new relationship with Alex (Brittany Murphy), whom he meets at the factory when she shows up one day looking for her brother.

Jimmy comes to realize that his life has remained largely the same since he graduated high school. At first, he considers himself a victim of his circumstances and blames others for his problems. Over time, though, Jimmy begins to take more responsibility for the direction of his life.

He appears to decide to take his day job more seriously, and this becomes evident to his supervisor at the factory. At the beginning of the film, when Jimmy requests extra shifts, his supervisor laughs at him (because of his tendency to be late to work), but by the end, Jimmy's improved attitude and performance earn him the extra work he had originally asked for.

His relationship with Alex ends when Jimmy walks in on his friend Wink (Eugene Byrd) having sex with her. Jimmy beats up Wink, which later causes Wink to officially join forces with Jimmy's enemies, a gang of rappers known as the Leaders of the Free World. Later, Wink and the Free World gang jump him outside of his mother's trailer, but when one member pulls a gun on Jimmy, Wink stops him and they leave.

Jimmy's friends have hailed him throughout the film as an incredible rapper, and his friend Future (Mekhi Phifer) puts pressure on Jimmy to get his revenge by competing against the Leaders of the Free World at the next rap battle. However, Jimmy's late-night shift conflicts with the next battle tournament. But a visit from Alex changes his mind about competing. Paul, a co-worker who Jimmy stood up for earlier in the film, agrees to cover for him and he participates in the battle.

The battle acts as kind of a "final conflict" with the Leaders of the Free World gang who have harassed Jimmy throughout the film. It has three rounds, and in each of them Jimmy faces a member of the gang. Jimmy wins both of the first two rounds with progressively more impressive freestyle raps. In the last round, he is paired against Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie), the tournament's most feared battler and Jimmy's main antagonist throughout the film. Jimmy is aware that Doc knows all his weak points, so he decides to address them preemptively with his freestyle. Jimmy acknowledges without shame his lower-class white trash roots and the various humiliations the Free World gang have inflicted on him, and then uses the difficult life he has had as a springboard to reveal the truth about Papa Doc: Doc, whose real name is Clarence, despite passing himself off as a thug, has a privileged background, having attended Cranbrook, a private high school in upper-class suburb Bloomfield Hills, and growing up in a stable two-parent household.

With nothing to say in rebuttal, Papa Doc hands the microphone back to Future and Jimmy wins the battle. Upon celebrating his victory, Jimmy and Alex embrace each other with the finger one last time. As Jimmy leaves the venue, Future suggests that he stay and celebrate his victory while also offering a position that would allow him to host battles at The Shelter. Jimmy turns him down, claiming he has to get back to work and to find success his own way. He then starts walking back to work, feeling more confident about his future.

Cast

Reception

Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports the film is "Certified Fresh", with 76% of 193 professional critics giving the film a positive review and a rating average of 6.7 out of 10. Narrowed down to Rotten Tomatoes' "top critics", it holds a 86% approval rating based on 43 reviews, with an average of 7.2 out of 10. The site's consensus is that "Even though the story is overly familiar, there's enough here for an engaging ride."[4] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has rating score of 77 based on 38 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".[5] CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave 8 Mile was B+ on an A+ to F scale, with the core under-21 demographics giving it an A.[6]

Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. He said that we "We are hardly started in "8 Mile," and already we see that this movie stands aside from routine debut films by pop stars" and that it is "a faithful reflection of his myth". He said that Eminem, as an actor, is "convincing without being too electric" and "survives the X-ray truth-telling of the movie camera". He praised Eminem's approach to his role, saying that the "The genius of Rabbit is to admit his own weaknesses." He complimented Basinger, saying that "Her performance finds the right note somewhere between love and exasperation; it cannot be easy to live with this sullen malcontent, whose face lights up only when he sees his baby sister, Lily." He said that criticism of Basinger for being "too atractive and glamorous to play Rabbit's mother" were unfair: "Given the numbers of ugly people who live in big houses, why can't there be beautiful people living in trailers?" He called the film "a grungy version of a familiar formula, in which the would-be performer first fails at his art, then succeeds, is unhappy in romance but lucky in his friends, and comes from an unfortunate background. He even finds love, sort of, with Alex," but "What the movie is missing, however, is the third act in which the hero becomes a star," as it "avoids the rags-to-riches route and shows Rabbit moving from rags to slightly better rags." He said that he "would love to see a sequel in which Rabbit makes millions and becomes world famous, and we learn at last if it is possible for him to be happy."[7]

In the At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper review, both Ebert and Richard Roeper gave the film a thumbs up; Roeper said that Eminem has a "winning screen presence" and "raw magic" to him. He was happy with Rabbit's "tender side" presented through his relationship with the "adorable" Greenfield as his sister, but felt that Basinger was "really miscast". But as in his own review, Ebert felt that the dark, depressing atmosphere of 8 Mile would turn off some Eminem fans, while Roeper thought they would like it. Roeper said: "8 Mile probably won't win converts to rap, but it should thrill Eminem fans."[8]

Peter Travers gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars. He said that 8 Mile "is a real movie, not a fast-buck package to exploit the fan base of a rap nonentity" that "qualifies as a cinematic event by tapping into the roots of Eminem and the fury and feeling that inform his rap. Hanson spares us the rags-to-riches cliches by leaving Rabbit on the edge of success. The film ends not with a blast but with the peace that comes to a rapper who finds his voice at last. That kind of class is a big risk for a novice stepping into the movie ring. Eminem wins by a knockout." He praised Hanson's directing, stating that he "succeeds brilliantly at creating a world around Eminem that teems with hip-hop energy and truth" and "excels with actors." He hailed Eminem's performance, saying that in 8 Mile, "Eminem is on fire" with an "electric" screen presence, "hold[ing] the camera by natural right" and "read[ing] lines with an offbeat freshness that makes his talk and his rap sound interchangeable," and sulk of "intensity to rival James Dean's." He said that Murphy was "dynamite, "play[ing] Alex with hot desperation and calloused vulnerability," while saying that "Basinger shines" in her role as well. "Hanson builds to a spectacular climax" with Rabbit's last three battles, and compared his final battle with Papa Doc to fight between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed in Rocky.[9]

Box office

8 Mile opened at #1 with $51,240,555 in its opening weekend, then the second highest opening for an R-rated movie in the U.S.[10] The film would go on to gross $116,750,901 in the domestic box office and $242,875,078 worldwide.[2] The film's final domestic gross would hold the film at #3 in Box Office Mojo's "Pop Star Debuts" list, behind Austin Powers in Goldmember (Beyoncé Knowles) and The Bodyguard (Whitney Houston).

The 8 Mile DVD, which was released on March 18, 2003, generated $75 million in sales and rentals in its first week, making it the biggest DVD debut ever for an R-rated movie and putting it in the all-time Top 10 for first week home video sales for a movie. A VHS version was also released on the same date.[11][12]

Top lists

8 Mile has been named to various year-end and all-time top lists:

Awards

In 2003, Eminem won the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 75th Academy Awards, for his single "Lose Yourself" from the soundtrack of 8 Mile.[18] Thus he became the first hip hop artist ever to win an Academy Award. He was not present at the ceremony, but musician Luis Resto accepted the award.[19] Eminem was nominated for Best Original Song in 2002.[20] The film has been nominated for 32 awards, winning 11.[21]

Music

Main article: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture 8 Mile

Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture 8 Mile is the official music soundtrack to 8 Mile. Eminem features on five tracks from the album. It was released under the Shady/Interscope label and spawned the massive hit single "Lose Yourself". The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart that year with over 702,000 copies sold and 507,000 sold in the second week also finishing the year as the fifth best-selling album of 2002 with US sales of 3.2 million, despite only two months of release. It also reached #1 on the UK Compilations Charhe Australian ARIAnet Albums Chart. It featured Eminem's worldwide chart-topping single, "Lose Yourself". It also spawned a follow up soundtrack, More Music from 8 Mile, consisting of songs that appear in 8 Mile that were current singles during the film's time setting of 1995. The album was also made in a clean edition removing most of the strong profanity and violent content.

References

  1. ^ "8 Mile". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  2. ^ a b c 8 Mile at Box Office Mojo
  3. ^ Eminem's 2012 VIBE Cover Story: 8 Miles and Runnin' | Vibe
  4. ^ "8 Mile Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2008-07-30. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ 8 Mile Reviews - Metacritic
  6. ^ http://www.boxofficeprophets.com/hamann/nov10wrapup.asp
  7. ^ "8 Mile". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2011-02-27.
  8. ^ http://apps.tvplex.go.com/ebertandthemovies/audioplayer.cgi?file=021111_8_mile
  9. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/8-mile-20021108
  10. ^ "Eminem movie tops at US box office". RTÉ. 2002-11-12. Retrieved 2011-10-06.
  11. ^ Hettrick, Scott (2003-03-24). "'8 Mile' DVD's going far". Variety. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  12. ^ "Eminem Stars in '8 MILE' Coming to DVD and VHS March 18, 2003". PR Newswire. 2003-01-30. Retrieved 2011-09-20.
  13. ^ Ramirez, Erika (November 8, 2012). "Top 10 Best Hip-Hop Movies Ever". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  14. ^ Sarris, Andrew (January 13, 2003). "The Best Films of 2002, And a Few Honorable Mentions". The New York Observer. The New York Observer, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  15. ^ Schickel, Richard (December 12, 2002). "Top 10 Everything 2002: Movies (Schickel)". Time. Time Inc. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  16. ^ Travers, Peter (December 26, 2002). "The Best and Worst Movies of 2002". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  17. ^ "Best Films of 2002". The Daily Californian. Independent Berkeley Students Publishing Company, Inc. January 21, 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  18. ^ "The 75th Academy Awards (2003) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  19. ^ Bozza 2003, p. 174
  20. ^ "The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2003)". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Retrieved 2011-12-26.
  21. ^ 8 Mile - Awards - IMDb
  22. ^ "The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2003)". GoldenGlobes.com. [[Hollywood Foreign Press Association |HFPA]]. 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |publisher= at position 38 (help)
  23. ^ "Winners and Nominees for the 4th Annual Golden Trailer Awards". GoldenTrailer.com. 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  24. ^ "2003 MTV Movie Awards". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014.
  25. ^ "Past Winners". GRAMMY.com. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
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Preceded by Academy Award for Best Original Song
2002 		Succeeded by
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