There are some movies that are simple concepts on the onset. Then there are films like “8 Mile” (2002, directed by Curtis Hanson), a film starring Eminem as the lead, with a story that takes a lot out of his life, and is about the struggles of an up-and-coming rapper, but at the same time isn’t an autobiography. 

The film is about Rabbit (played by Eminem, and is totally NOT a stand-in for him – sense the sarcasm here) a young adult in Detroit who’s really good at rapping and rap battles, but has a hard time doing it in front of an audience. As if that’s not bad enough his life is pretty much in the toilet, he lives in a trailer park, his mom is a hot mess, he probably got his girlfriend pregnant, and his car is as reliable as congress is speedy.

The film, while taking a lot of influence from Eminem’s life, is (according to the star) not an autobiography. Even if that’s not the case, it’s still a good watch.

One thing the film does really well is making the audience sympathize with Rabbit’s situation, it goes into great detail about why his life sucks to an almost nauseating degree. But, because of how well established it sets that up, it makes the audience root for Rabbit and want to see him succeed all the more.

Despite not originally coming from a background in acting, Eminem does a really good job as the lead character, though it might help that he’s basically just him. And it’s not just in scenes where he’s rapping (though, of course those are well done too), there are legitimately emotional scenes throughout the film that he nails.

But it’s not just Rabbit that ends up being memorable, his group of friends (played by Mekhi Phifer, Evan Jones, Omar Benson Miller, and De’Angelo Wilson) do a good job being not only fun to watch, with the way they work off each other and other people, but also do a good job of adding levity to a pretty cruddy situation.

The soundtrack, which was also apparently done by Eminem, is also a highlight (which it should be, seeing how the movie is ostentatiously about him making it big in music.) With plenty of hip-hop and rap music doing a good job establishing the setting and world in which he lives.

Famously, the hit song “Lose Yourself” was made for the movie, which got an Academy Award for best original song. What’s great about the song is that not only is it fire, but it also perfectly describes the journey Rabbit goes through the film.

Speaking of character journey, that’s also cleverly done. Throughout the film Rabbit starts taking control of his life, doing what he wants and not what others want, and being more responsible as the plot progresses. It is actually an interesting watch comparing and contrasting the character from the beginning to what he becomes near the end.

A good example of this in action are the two scenes where gets in trouble at work. In the first scene when his boss tells him that he needs to get his act together after being late, Rabbit replies that it’s not his fault, with his boss saying that he always says that. In a scene later on when some of Rabbit’s personal drama ends up being dragged into the workplace, his boss asks if this is going to be a problem, at first it seems like Rabbit is going to say it’s not his fault, but ends up catching himself, instead saying sorry and that it won’t happen again.

It’s a clever way of showing Rabbit’s character growth instead of pawning off the problem to someone else, he instead takes responsibility.

Despite the satisfying characters and great soundtrack, “8 Mile” still flubs some verses.

The film does have a problem of not cutting when it really should with scenes that are effectively over but continues on anyway, causing the scenes to be more and more awkward the longer they go on.

While most of the characters are memorable and/or serve a purpose in the plot. Rabbit’s girlfriends – both his ex (Taryn Manning) and current girlfriend (Brittany Murphy) – feel very tacked on and don’t really add much of anything to the plot, with their subplots ultimately going nowhere.

There’s also the case where sometimes the burns some characters give each other during rap battles are not as good as the characters in the film act like they are, making a small disconnect with the audience. It kind of causes them to want to go into the film and tell the characters, “It wasn’t that great, there’s no reason to act all wild over it.”

Even though it has some off-key moments, a great performance by a strong lead and a soundtrack that both reflects and carries the story make “8 Mile” a fun watch (not) about Eminem.