8 Mile Critic Reviews

Transcends its star's controversial career and, in the bargain, stands head, shoulders and heart above every other Hollywood movie that we've seen so far this year.Read the full review

Movie stars radiate a power -- physical, erotic, spiritual -- that draws an audience into their orbit. Yet watching Curtis Hanson's gritty and electrifying 8 Mile, the first thing you notice about Eminem, the most scaldingly powerful artist in pop music today, is how vulnerable he looks.Read the full review

The film's absolute conviction keeps it from feeling formulaic.Read the full review

The film is never more real than when Jimmy unloads his anger on someone close to him, a frequent occurrence. Eminem is an actor with a rare gift for rage, and movie careers, even big ones, have been built on less.Read the full review

The rough power, as well as the humor and sensitivity, of pop phenom Eminem is delivered intact in 8 Mile.Read the full review

This is about the rise of a pop star, plain and simple. The real deal –- and the movie's greatest fun –- is in the rap contests.Read the full review

The rap sequences are shot and edited with the excitement of a crisply broadcast sporting event, which in a way they are.Read the full review

There are a lot of stale -- and nefarious -- clichés in 8 Mile, but most of the time they're overwhelmed by the pulsing, grinding, hopped-up camerawork and the soulful star turn of Eminem.Read the full review

Eminem survives the X-ray truth-telling of the movie camera, which is so good at spotting phonies. He is on the level.Read the full review