Making the city look grimy and lonely, dark and wasted but still alive with people who care, the film gets you rooting for the guys who want to make 'Mo' (short for Motown) a major player.
Comment
11/08/02
8 Mile (2002)
74
%
Tomatometer
How does the Tomatometer work 
Reviews Counted:178
Fresh:132
Rotten:46
Average Rating:6.7/10
Consensus: Even though the story is overly familiar, there's enough here for an engaging ride.
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: 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,... [More]
Starring: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer, Brittany Murphy
Director: Curtis Hanson
Reviews for 8 Mile
141 - 160 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
While it's doubtful that Eminem could run out and perform Shakespeare tomorrow, his talents on screen -- in this role -- are astounding.
11/08/02
Top CriticWe are hardly started in 8 Mile, and already we see that this movie stands aside from routine debut films by pop stars ... Like Prince's Purple Rain, it is the real thing.
11/08/02
Top CriticUneven but watchable.
11/08/02
8 Mile continues the director's visual tour of America's underbelly that heated up with L.A. Confidential and continued with the Pittsburgh of Wonder Boys.
11/08/02
Book-ended by two pivotal and compelling sequences, 8 Mile, like its star, is best when it focuses on the music.
11/08/02
Rapper Eminem's film debut is far better than you'd think -- and a pure demonstration of the power of charisma.
11/08/02
It's 8 Miles of bad road, I'm sorry to say, even for fans of Eminem's music -- we are left "doing time" waiting for his "wicked rhymes" till well beyond the point of patience.
11/08/02
After just a few years in the spotlight, Eminem has accomplished something Elvis, Madonna, Michael and Mariah have not: He’s made a great movie.
11/08/02
Is it worth a look? Sure. Is it begging to be parodied? Without a doubt...somebody alert the Wayans.
11/08/02
the Profane One's performance in 8 Mile is more Britney than Brando. As with Ms. Belly Button in the vapid Crossroads, Eminem plays himself, albeit a cleaned-up, deep-thinking, saintlike version.
11/08/02
Say what you want about Eminem, but the guy has passion and a gift with words - the finale at the battle simply rocks the house.
11/08/02
Elegant and tough, unpretentiously directed by Curtis Hanson, it doesn't for a second pander to what is supposed to be the star's target audience.
11/08/02
Eminem wipes away his hubris, revealing a trembling, self-doubting kid on the way up.
11/08/02
[Nothing] more than an Elvis film, except there’s a lot more sex and violence than Blue Hawaii and the music video sequences feature creative profanity instead of surfboards.
11/08/02
On it's own, "8 Mile" is a slightly above average mixture of "Good Will Hunting" drama, "Rocky" sports suspense and "Purple Rain'" musical moments. On a slightly deeper level, it plays as a White fantasy about Black acceptance and how talent being colorbl
11/08/02
The dialogue in “8 Mile” has a vocabulary of fewer words than the 223 in The Cat in the Hat, and that’s counting giving someone the finger as a word.
11/07/02
All this hoopla about Eminem's so great, is it any more of a stretch than Prince in "Purple Rain" or Babs in "A Star is Born" or Woody in any movie where he's having an affair with a younger woman?
11/07/02
The movie is a success on its own terms because the director doesn't condescend to pop music.
11/07/02
Top Critic8 Mile should satisfy Eminem's legion of fans and, at the same time, affirms rap's power as an artform, as real beat poetry, for the uninitiated -- and even for the actively resistant.
11/07/02
Latest News for 8 Mile
May 03, 2007:
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Will the friendly neighborhood webslinger reclaim the holy grail of the movie biz - the opening weekend box office record? More...
December 04, 2006:
Movie Pirate Gets Seven Years in Jail
Think it sounds like a good idea to head into your local multiplex and videotape the biggest movies so you can upload them onto the internet and give a bunch of strangers free... More...
June 21, 2006:
Brittany Murphy to Give "Tinker Bell" Her Voice
Now that they've made direct-to-video sequels from allllll their classic features, the Disney gang will finally give a voice to a character who's remained mute for over 50 years... More...
June 13, 2006:
Eminem to Anchor "Have Gun, Will Travel" Remake
We haven't seen a whole lot of M&M since he appeared (as basically himself) in "8 Mile," but now comes word that the rapper will star for Paramount in an... More...
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