8 Mile UMD

Controversial rapper Eminem real name Marshall Mathers makes his big screen debut with 8 MILE, a bracing drama directed by the increasingly audacious Curtis Hanson. Set in 1995 in the bleak, urban battle zone of Detroit, the film follows the struggles of a young man desperate to make a better life for himself. Jimmy Smith, Jr., better known as Rabbit, is destined for a life of squalor. Living in a cramped trailer with his deadbeat mom Kim Basinger, Rabbit works in a factory to make ends meet. His only outlet is hip hop. Possessing a talent for freestyle rapping, Rabbit still hasn't managed to unleash his true potential. But his best friend Future Mekhi Phifer is determined to make that happen. Future forces Rabbit to enter a freestyle battle that he blew the week before, giving him another chance at redemption. Hanson's stellar portrait of lower class urban disillusionment, shot with uncompromisingly gritty realism by Rodrigo Prieto, proves that the issue is no longer about race, it's about money. Eminem delivers a bold performance as a troubled youngster trying to find his place in a harsh, cruel world.