February 22, 2018

8 Mile (film) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

8 Mile (film)

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Jump to: navigation, search
8 Mile
Eight mile ver2.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCurtis Hanson
Produced byCurtis Hanson
Brian Grazer
Jimmy Iovine
Written byScott Silver
StarringEminem
Kim Basinger
Brittany Murphy
Mekhi Phifer
CinematographyRodrigo Prieto
Edited byJay Rabinowitz
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$242.9 million[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, set in 1995 and based heavily on Eminem's actual upbringing, is an account of an aspiring white rapper named Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith, Jr. (Eminem), who lives in a trailer park in Warren, Michigan, and his attempt to launch a career in hip-hop, a genre dominated by African-Americans. The film's title is derived from 8 Mile Road, the highway that runs along the border between the predominantly Black city of Detroit and Wayne County, and its predominantly White Oakland County and Macomb County suburbs.
Filmed mostly on location in Detroit and its surrounding areas, the film was both a critical and commercial success. Eminem won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself."


Plot[edit]

In 1995 in Detroit, Jimmy "B-Rabbit" Smith Jr. (Eminem), a blue-collar worker from a poor family, struggles with aspects of his life. He has moved back north of 8 Mile Road to the run-down 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). Although encouraged by his friends who hail him as a talented rapper, Jimmy worries about his potential as a musician, due to his lack of confidence. Such anxiety causes him to falter during a rap battle one night at a local venue called "The Shelter", and he leaves the stage humiliated.
Jimmy works at a car factory. When he asks for extra shifts, his supervisor laughs and dismisses his request on account of his habitual lateness. Jimmy befriends a woman named Alex (Brittany Murphy). Over time, Jimmy begins to take more responsibility for the direction of his life. When he exhibits an improved attitude and performance at work, his supervisor grants him the extra shifts he requested.
Stephanie receives a notice declaring that, because she cannot afford to pay the rent on her trailer, she and her family must vacate the premises immediately. Despite Stephanie's best attempts to keep the eviction notice a secret, Greg finds out about it. A brutal fight ensues between him and Jimmy, and Greg leaves Stephanie for good. Jimmy's friendship with Wink (Eugene Byrd), a radio DJ with ties to a record label promoter, becomes strained after he discovers that Wink does promotional work for Jimmy's rivals, a rap group known as the "Leaders of the Free World." At one point, Jimmy and his friends get into a violent brawl with the Leaders, which is disrupted when Jimmy's friend Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones) pulls out a gun and accidentally shoots himself in the leg; he survives but is confined to crutches.
At work one day when on lunch break, Jimmy witnesses a rap battle in which an employee (Xzibit) insults a gay co-worker, Paul (Craig Chandler). Jimmy joins the battle and defends Paul. Alex is impressed by Jimmy's actions; they have sex in the factory. Wink arranges for Jimmy to meet with producers at a recording studio, but Jimmy finds Wink and Alex having sex. Enraged, Jimmy attacks Wink as Alex tries to break up their altercation. In retaliation, Wink and the Leaders of the Free World assault Jimmy outside his mother's trailer. The leader of the gang, Papa Doc (Anthony Mackie), holds Jimmy at gunpoint, threatening to kill him before being dissuaded by Wink.
Jimmy's best friend and battle host, Future (Mekhi Phifer), pushes him to get revenge by competing against the Leaders of the Free World at the next rap battle. However, Jimmy's late-night shift conflicts with the timing of the next battle tournament. A goodbye visit from Alex, who is moving to New York, changes his mind about competing, and Paul agrees to cover his shift at work as a thank you. Jimmy goes to the battle.
In all rounds of the rap battle, Jimmy has to compete against one member of "the Leaders." After winning the first two rounds, he has to challenge Papa Doc. He wins by exposing his opponent's weaknesses as well as his own. With nothing to say in rebuttal, Papa Doc hands the microphone back to Future, embarrassed. After being congratulated by Alex and his friends, Jimmy is offered a position by Future, hosting battles at The Shelter. Jimmy declines, saying he has to get back to work and to find success his own way. He walks to work with renewed confidence about his future.

Cast[edit]

Music[edit]


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 Eminem's first number 1 US single[3] "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 Chart and the Australian ARIAnet Albums Chart. 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.

Reception[edit]

Box office[edit]

8 Mile opened at #1 with $51,240,555 in its opening weekend, the then second highest opening for an R-rated movie in the U.S.[4] The film would go on to gross $116,750,901 domestically, and $126,124,177 overseas for a total of $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) 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.[5][6]

Critical reception[edit]

8 Mile received positive reviews, with critics praising the music and Eminem's performance. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports the film is "Certified Fresh", with 76% of 206 professional critics giving the film a positive review and a rating average of 7.0 out of 10. The site's consensus is that "Even though the story is overly familiar, there's enough here for an engaging ride."[7] 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".[8] 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.[9]
Roger Ebert gave the film 3 out of 4 stars. He said that 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 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 attractive 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."[10]
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."[11]
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 the fight between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed in Rocky.[12]

Top lists[edit]

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

Awards and honors[edit]

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][19] 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.[20] The film has been nominated for 32 awards, winning 11.[21]
The film is recognized by American Film Institute in these lists:

References[edit]

  1. Jump up ^ "8 Mile". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 2012-01-29. 
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b c 8 Mile at Box Office Mojo
  3. Jump up ^ "Eminem." Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th ed. Ed. Colin Larkin. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 27 Sep. 2016.
  4. Jump up ^ "Eminem movie tops at US box office". RTÉ. 2002-11-12. Retrieved 2011-10-06. 
  5. Jump up ^ Hettrick, Scott (2003-03-24). "'8 Mile' DVD's going far". Variety. Retrieved 2011-09-20. 
  6. Jump up ^ "Eminem Stars in '8 MILE' Coming to DVD and VHS March 18, 2003". PR Newswire. 2003-01-30. Retrieved 2011-09-20. 
  7. Jump up ^ "8 Mile Movie Reviews". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 2008-07-30. Retrieved 2008-07-30. 
  8. Jump up ^ "8 Mile". Retrieved 15 September 2016. 
  9. Jump up ^ "Box Office Prophets: Box Office Report for November 8-10, 2002". Retrieved 15 September 2016. 
  10. Jump up ^ "8 Mile". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2011-02-27. 
  11. Jump up ^ http://apps.tvplex.go.com/ebertandthemovies/audioplayer.cgi?file=021111_8_mile[permanent dead link]
  12. Jump up ^ "8 Mile". Retrieved 15 September 2016. 
  13. Jump up ^ Ramirez, Erika (November 8, 2012). "Top 10 Best Hip-Hop Movies Ever". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  14. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ Schickel, Richard (December 12, 2002). "Top 10 Everything 2002: Movies (Schickel)". Time. Time Inc. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  16. Jump up ^ Travers, Peter (December 26, 2002). "The Best and Worst Movies of 2002". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media, LLC. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  17. Jump up ^ "Best Films of 2002". The Daily Californian. Independent Berkeley Students Publishing Company, Inc. January 21, 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  18. Jump up ^ "The 75th Academy Awards (2003) Nominees and Winners". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 2011-09-12. 
  19. Jump up ^ "The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2003)". Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Archived from the original on 2010-12-29. Retrieved 2011-12-26. 
  20. Jump up ^ Bozza 2003, p. 174
  21. Jump up ^ "8 Mile". 8 November 2002. Retrieved 15 September 2016 – via IMDb. 
  22. Jump up ^ "The 60th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2003)". GoldenGlobes.com. HFPA. 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  23. Jump up ^ "Winners and Nominees for the 4th Annual Golden Trailer Awards". GoldenTrailer.com. 2003. Archived from the original on February 23, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  24. Jump up ^ "2003 MTV Movie Awards". MTV. Viacom Media Networks. 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  25. Jump up ^ "Past Winners". GRAMMY.com. National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014. 
  26. Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs" (PDF). American Film Institute. Retrieved 2016-08-14. 
  27. Jump up ^ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Cheers Nominees" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-14. 

External links[edit]

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