Em takes an ‘8 Mile’ route to Hollywood

The question on most people’s minds about Eminem answers itself shortly into ‘8 Mile.’ In fact, there is no question about it: he can act. Eminem seizes the role of Jimmy ‘Rabbit’ Smith, Jr. with the same intensity with which he raps on his albums, but his true accomplishment is the way he embodies the role of Rabbit with almost no trace of his controversial media persona, Slim Shady. Eminem carries the movie simply on his solid, sophisticated performance.

‘8 Mile,’ named for the dividing line, both physical and symbolic, between whites and blacks in Eminem’s hometown of Detroit, is loosely based on the rapper’s 1life. While the comparisons between Eminem and Rabbit seem obvious a talent for rhyming, a difficult mother (Kim Basinger), a rocky relationship with his love interest, Alex (Brittany Murphy), and a young daughter (or, in this case, sister) the similarities are otherwise irrelevant. The film is set in 1995 a time when the East Coast/West Coast rivalry in hip-hop was still publicly fought with words rather than with weapons and Biggie and Tupac were still alive and rapping and is much more about Detroit and hip-hop than it is about its star. Race and poverty divide and confine the characters in ‘8 Mile,’ but, unlike his mother and Alex, Rabbit realizes the only opportunities he has are the ones he creates for himself.

The movie opens with Rabbit at the Shelter, a gritty Detroit nightclub, for the weekly freestyle battle. When Rabbit’s turn comes to rap, he chokes in front of the predominantly black crowd, freezing with fear. Even more embarrassing in Rabbit’s eyes, he is forced to move back into his mother’s trailer after breaking up with his ex-girlfriend (Taryn Manning), while working a miserable factory job. Rabbit’s mother is on the verge of being evicted from her trailer, looking for any way out of her situation, hanging onto a deadbeat boyfriend and playing bingo like it’s the lottery. The hip-hop Rabbit blasts in his headphones serves as an escape from his dismal situation and the rhymes he is constantly scribbling on scraps of paper are his only hope.

‘8 Mile,’ of course, tags Eminem with the dreaded ‘rapper/actor’ label, which would technically place him in a category with LL Cool J of ‘Rollerball’ and ‘Halloween: H20’ fame, but Eminem belongs more in the league of the Academy Award- winning actors (including Basinger) in director Curtis Hanson’s ‘L.A. Confidential’ and ‘Wonder Boys.’ His performance allows the audience to see him as the more subdued Rabbit, and the result is something more raw and seemingly honest than even Eminem’s most personal lyrics. Basinger digs deep into the desperation of Rabbit’s mother in an impressive turn as a woman at the end of her rope. Brittany Murphy shows decent on-screen chemistry with Eminem as Alex in a relatively small role as an aspiring model looking to escape to New York, no matter what it takes. ‘All I’m looking for is a ticket,’ she tells Rabbit.

Mekhi Phifer plays Future, Rabbit’s close friend and biggest supporter in rapping. Future is a fellow member of the ‘Three One Third’ crew, Eminem’s group of friends who discuss a variety of social and racial issues as a window into the minds of their community during that time period. In one conversation, they target the Beastie Boys as white artists exploiting black music, an interesting reference to the credible white rap many people forget existed before Eminem. Evan Jones provides several instances of comic relief as Cheddar, a mostly clueless friend whom Rabbit does his best to look out for, along with his sister, Lily, whom he tries to shield from the violence that surrounds their home life.

‘8 Mile’ is dead-on its portrayal of the hip-hop scene in the mid ’90s, and like director Cameron Crowe did with rock in ‘Almost Famous,’ Hanson taps into the emotion and force that fans identify with in hip-hop rather than focusing on the guns and violence it is usually associated with. The freestyle battle scenes illustrate hip-hop in its purest form, where MCs rap for respect and other scenes highlight rap as forms of social commentary and storytelling.

Eminem is sure to be harassed with the same petty criticism Courtney Love received for her role as the junkie stripper wife in ‘The People v. Larry Flynt’: that he’s essentially playing himself, making his performance somehow less significant. While the battle scenes, which showcase Eminem’s lyrical skills, are some of the most entertaining parts of the movie, the acting ability and emotional intensity he shows particularly in his scenes with Basinger should silence any disbelievers.