8 Mile looks more authentic than it plays, and it should because, some of the most talented people working in the movies today are propping up this slight little story. Brian Grazer, who won an Oscar last year as producer of Best Picture winner A Beautiful Mind put this project together.Curtis Hanson, director of the smart and funny Wonder Boys and brilliant L.A. Confidential, directs 8 Mile. Cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, who photographed the truly gritty Amores Perros, captures the despair of Detroit and the claustrophobic, limited atmosphere of the milieu.

I’m guessing Hanson brought Kim Basinger to the project. He helped her win her Oscar, so she’s probably willing to follow him anywhere. She plays Eminem’s mom, who is supposed to be a trailer park hag.She looks far too beautiful to be believable as someone who has been living on bingo-winning fantasies, alcohol and bad relationships. In real life, Eminem and his mother have traded blows and lawsuits, but this is a movie, so why not have somebody really hot play moms?

8 Mile gets its title from the road in Detroit that separates dilapidated Detroit from the affluent suburbs of Oakland County.Eminem plays Jimmy Smith, Jr.,known among his boys as Rabbit or B. Rabbit. Besides his talent and ambition to get out through rapping, he has plenty to give him the necessary street cred. He has a lousy job, girlfriend troubles, an its-not-my-fault attitude, a mom dating a loser nearly half her age and plenty of anger and disgust about the whole situation. He’s got one problem.

He’s a white guy trying to make it in a black world. Rabbit gets no respect. He attends the rap showdown contests at a local club, The Shelter, where he is championed by his good friend, the emcee,Future, played by the excellent, Mekhi Phifer.Early in 8 Mile he freezes on stage and spends most of the film fighting verbally and physically with a rival crew of rappers who are all black.Most of Rabbit’s friends are black, and race isn’t really an issue in his daily life. But it is an issue as he tries to make a reputation as a rapper.

Eminem was born Marshall Mathers, III. He grew up in Detroit.He lives there still, but now of course in the suburbs on the other side of the road.8 Mile is set in 1995, about the time Eminem was creating his rap self. No doubt the challenges Rabbit faces bear some resemblance to what Eminem faced, but they must have been more brutal than what we see in the movie. Eminem’s alter-ego stage character, Slim Shady, is full of homophobia and fear and loathing of women that must have come from experience. As the saying goes, hate has to be taught. Eminem picked a fight with a sock puppet at a recent awards show, which suggests a level of anger and insecurity that Rabbit lacks.

Rabbit is so remarkably prejudice-free he could easily be the product of the kind of stable loving environment he insults his contest winning rap. There is something truly hilarious about Rabbit insulting a black rival for attending the Cranbrook, one of the finest private schools in the country, just outside of Detroit. Perhaps this is because despite all the black faces in the movie, I feel confident most of Eminem’s record buyers are white kids somewhere in between Cranbrook and the ghetto. Perhaps it is because I’m not sure that in the real mean streets of Detroit, you could find a crowd of rap lovers who would even know what Cranbrook is.

In 8 Mile, Rabbit defends a gay man at a spontaneous rap fest at the lunch cart at the plant. The grateful, generous gay man helps Rabbit out later in the film by filling in for him for a few hours so that Rabbit can go conquer his rivals at the Shelter. Women are not to be trusted in 8 Mile. Brittany Murphy plays the sexy Alex who seems to believe in Rabbit, but is so clearly out for herself first her lack of loyalty isn’t surprising.Only little sister Lily can be trusted.

8 Mile follows the underdog makes good trajectory of many classic films but never rises to the thrills and chills of Rocky or Saturday Night Fever. It is closer to Purple Rain, but even that mess of a movie had lots more juice in the actual performances.Both Prince and Morris Day just seem so much more talented and skilled.

So there’s my prejudice betrayed.I believe rap involves brains, talent, skill and imagination, and to make it truly art, heart, even if its very angry heart. But much of the most successful rap— and 8 Mile suggests Eminem is the best — seems to lack heart and so amounts to so much less than musicians, poets, dancers, fighters, or really anyone who pursues something that requires more and aspires to more.

For me, rap is still too often a get rich easy scheme, so the more 8 Mile layers on the tension and competition, the more the hollowness of the enterprise shows. 8 Mile rests on the shoulders of Eminem, and despite the show of loyalty to friends and affection for his sister the star and the project seem empty.Eminem is good enough in 8 Mile, playing a version of himself. I felt like I was watching the hip hop equivalent of Desperately Seeking Susan, a pop star playing himself surrounded by high quality talent to prop up the vehicle.But Desperately Seeking Susan had heart, though much of it didn1t depend on Madonna.

Eminem is selling movie tickets and more, but I’m not convinced he’s an actor. He may not want to be an actor. 8 Mile seems to exist to burnish his image, which will allow him to keep making money as something — recording artist, actor, business man. Lately, Eminem speaks of changing for his daughter’s sake. Whether that’s real or a pose to keep the thought police off his back, who knows. But for me he still hasn’t done anything that isn’t designed to squeeze disposable income out of white teenagers while proving how “real” he is.