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A DVD Review of...
  
Images (C) Universal, 2002 |
Genre: Drama
Cast: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy, Mekhi Phifer, Taryn Manning
Synopsis: Directed by Curtis Hanson. An honest but provocative fictional examination of a critical month in the life of a young man named Jimmy (Eminem) as he searches for identity and a sense of purpose. Against the familiar backdrop of indifference and community decay, he learns to express his anger, fears and frustration as he struggles to transcend his bleak circumstances..
Film Review: When singers make the transition to films, the majority of the time its a disaster of "Glitter"
proportions. This is usually because the singer in question picks limp material or tries to act in a role that's
out of their limited range. Madonna for example is continually bagged for her admittedly atrocious film roles, yet
her first turn in "Desperately Seeking Susan" garnered great reviews - why? Because she was playing to her strengths
and building on that rebel 'devil may care' girl attitude she was known for. Now after much talk rapper Eminem, pretty
much the biggest music star on the scene in years, heads to the big screen. This isn't a man whose embraced by middle
America, this is a guy who first became famous for songs filled with bigotry, racism, homophobia and more. Yet the man's
music has visibly grown and changed before our very eyes. Eminem is a singer who can pull off both catchy pop oriented
stuff like "Real Slim Shady" and "Without Me", and serious powerful hard rock ballads like "Stan" and "The Way I Am". The
hardcore 'poster child of hate' image has long been washed away to the point where he's become embraced by all sorts including
the many minorities his early work vilified. It was 'Stan' and his performance of it with Elton John at the Grammys a few
years back that made me take notice and from then on I've thoroughly enjoyed his music. Yet will this film work for both
fans and those who have yet to be converted?
The good news is that for the most part it does. "8 Mile" successfully pulls off what is essentially a conventional
'rap version' of "Flashdance" set in the gritty urban sprawl of Detroit. Like Madonna did with 'Susan', Eminem has gone
for an almost biographical role which he can easily slip into and play off. As a result he gives us one of the strongest
lead performances of any actor this year and a truly astonishing turn for any debut actor. Delivery, attitude,
body language, facial expression - its all fine tuned (which is expected for such an experienced performer) and makes
the crossover onto film with great success. Along the way he's backed up by a strong supporting cast including
Kim Basinger as a haggard looking trailer trash mom, Mekhi Pfifer as his loyal friend and Brittany Murphy as a
street girl who falls for him. The various other rappers and friends all pull off their scenes with great ease
and conviction.
Its a shame that there's not much more to this film than the acting. Admittedly Director Curtis Hanson has gotten the
look and atmosphere perfect - the entire film feels exactly like a dirt poor big city neighbourhood slum and not
some studio backlot, and the story never stretches its credibility by filling it with coincidences or impossible
dreams (ie. record execs just happening to be there for the finale and offering a multi-year contract). There's
also a deliberate and no nonsense style with no cheap flashy editing or Michael Bay style rock video tricks to
hide the faults. However aside from that there's pretty much nothing here that betrays this as anything other
than an old TV movie which has been pulled out of the can and slightly dusted off a bit in readiness for a big
music star to do. Its a pre-packaged unoriginal blue collar 'poor boy succeeds at something' story which has been
done to death before and whilst I'm glad Eminem chose a film which played to its strengths, I'm disappointed such
an unconventional singer has chosen a story as pedestrian as this.
However its not a film I write off so quickly. The music is dull, but two rap sequences - the finale and a scene halfway
through where Eminem confronts a homophobic co-worker are pulled off with great hardcore energy. Sure a good
portion of the lyrics are unintelligible, but the delivery and meaning is what rap is all about and on the few minutes
of screen time where he manages to fire it up, Eminem pulls it off with gusto. Non-fans will quite enjoy this film
and find it much easier to embrace the singer in this sort of medium than his more confronting and ego-centric musical
persona. As a casual fan though, as much as I like the effort put into such a film and especially the performances,
that's just not enough to make a whole movie. Its an enjoyable piece make no mistake and is worth seeing, but is neither
great filmmaking or great entertainment - rather succeeding only part of the way on both counts. - Garth Franklin
"8 Mile: Widescreen"
DVD Details In Brief (Region 1)
Rating: R
Runtime: 111mins
Versions: 16:9 Enhanced Widescreen, 4:3 Letterboxed
Aspect Ratio: 2.35: 1
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 & DTS 5.1
Language & Sub-Titles: English, Spanish, French
Documentaries: Two Featurettes
Clips: 'Rap-Off' Clips, Music Video, Trailer
Other: Production Notes, Filmmographies, DVD-Rom
Region 1 vs. Region 4: No R4 Available |
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DVD Review: After major success at the US box-office, the feature film debut of rapper Eminem comes home in four different versions and of course being me I immediately go for the widescreen & uncensored version (I mean why bother releasing the other three eh?). The transfer is excellent - there's a deliberate look of graininess and dark filters to give this a more urban and gritty feel and in the cinema it did get a bit too dark and annoying but on disc it looks like despite all its 'grounded' reality feel it was shot with high quality equipment. The audio is equally strong and surprising
with a rather enveloping surround mix whose tight dialogue and sound effects are perfecty legible and audibly dynamic. The score is excellent which was a must for this.
Onto the extras and the ten minute "Making of 8 Mile" featurette has standard cast interviews with Curtis, Eminem, Grazer, etc. The most interesting stuff here is the video of the real 8 Mile Road in Detroit but for the most part this is a standard bland EPK piece. The biggest extra is the near half hour length 'rap battles' feature which starts with interviews about what this type of music is, moves onto Eminem battling with other famed rappers (I assume so, I don't listen to this music much) and ends with the complete version of the finale. Eminem's exclusive "Superman" music video (in full screen) is basically him shirtless singing a song praising being single through a doorway keyhole at a very big-busted blond, intercut with a writhing mass girls in lingere. Its a fun and admittedly a little hot video at times, and the song is catchy. "The Music of 8 Mile" which could've been an interesting featurette is in actuality just a track list of songs from the two albums tied to the movie, and a 'jump to a song' function which some may find useful. Capping it off are the trailer, standard filmographies and production notes. Considering the films success I was hoping for more, but what's here is well organised. - Garth Franklin
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