For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.
Since his ascension to pop-culture royalty, Eminem has transformed the messy emotions of his life into musical black comedy. In 8 Mile, that life becomes an equally riveting drama.
– Nathan Rabin,
AV Club,
7 Apr 2014
fresh:
What saves all this from being purely conventional is the filmmaker's keen sense of Rabbit's essential solitude as an artist, even when surrounded by friends.
– John Powers,
L.A. Weekly,
7 Apr 2014
fresh:
In addition to showcasing Mathers, 8 Mile makes a case for rap as a creative rebel yell.
– Jami Bernard,
New York Daily News,
7 Apr 2014
fresh:
In the tradition of Rocky and Fever, the movie is a shrewdly engineered piece of proletarian pop -- a story of triumph -- but, like Eminem's enraged lyrics, 8 Mile has its own kind of vile candor.
– David Denby,
New Yorker,
7 Apr 2014
fresh:
It's easy to like Jimmy Smith as well as to admire him, because Mr. Mathers lets us in, with no sign of calculation, on the kindness, even tenderness, that Jimmy conceals from most of the people around him.