2002, 1 hr 45 min., Rated R for strong language, sexuality, some violence and drug use.�Dir: Curtis Hanson. Cast: Eminem (Jimmy Smith Jr/Bunny Rabbit), Kim Basinger (Stephanie Smith), Brittany Murphy (Alex), Mekhi Phifer (Future), Evan Jones (Chedder Bob), Eugene Byrd (Wink), Omar Benson Miller (Sol George), Taryn Manning (Janeane).

After a $54.5 million opening weekend, a semi-autobiographical movie about a guy everyone agrees is a menace to society as a human being, all of a sudden becomes a must-see. I'm not surprised the film did so well, because the trailer was one of the best I've seen in the last decade, and the allure of seeing Marshall Mathers, a.k.a. Eminem, try to act was too much to avoid.

I can see why so many critics lined up to pat Mathers on the back, and proclaim that director Curtis Hanson delivered a powerful look at the decrepit conditions of inner-city Detroit. I wish I could do the same, but I will give Hanson credit for artistic value and a story that leaves one thinking.

Still, this was a very frustrating movie. Just as I feel a character is redeeming themselves, they usually do something inane to mess up the works again. There is no joy, and no hope for these guys and girls who dream of making it big in the rap business but never really believing the possibility.

It's not easy to take Mathers as an actor. He's given as few words as possible in the script to screw up, and his looks generally involve: Angry, Upset, Pissed Off, Confused, Up Yours, or Hate. The only sense you get that he has any feeling in his soul is for his little sister, but that doesn't keep him from fighting with his mom or her boyfriend in the house, and using his full range of curses in front of her. The funniest bit has to be Mathers trying to make up for the homophobic language in his music by defending a gay co-worker. I doubt many could watch that forced scene and think that Mathers wasn't sucking up to critics.

Besides Mathers, there are some good performances by the supporting cast, chiefly Mekhi Phifer as Fortune, host of a local rap-off called a Battle. In these battles, rappers get on stage and have 45 seconds to insult his competitor using any means necessary with a microphone, and the roaring crowd decides the winner. It's in these battles that Mathers really lets loose with how he feels, saying more in these snippets than any real dialogue with another person. Phifer acts as Mathers' backbone, encouraging him to get over stage fright and keeping it real with his competitors.

I don't know what to think of Brittany Murphy's role. She's a skank who serves neither good nor bad, and since I don't find her all that sexy, I didn't care. But since when does "Take me somewhere nice" mean "Let's have sex in the basement of the factory"?

8 Mile isn't a film that has to be seen; you've no doubt seen plenty of joyless, depressing and angry movies before. But it is not something I'll tell you not to see, either, because the story has some quality of reminding those like me in the world of the 'burbs that others aren't living life to its fullest, and that Marshall Mathers could quite possibly have talent behind all the offensive lyrics.