Eminem, Hanson beat the rap

Curtis Hanson is a director of immense, eclectic skill. Whether spearheading a hard-boiled, '50s-era cop yarn, a drug-tinged tour of higher academia, or, in the case of his latest film, "8 Mile," the pseudo-biographical mythos surrounding hip hop's foremost purveyor of controversy, he infuses each work with a sense of class and precision.\nEminem capably headlines "8 Mile" as Jimmy Smith Jr., aka Rabbit, the disillusioned punch-press-operator son of an alcoholic, trailer-trash mother (a decent yet slightly miscast Kim Basinger). Rabbit moonlights as a rapper, oftentimes unsuccessfully, amid a seedy club lining Detroit's 8 Mile -- a stretch of road separating the inner city and white suburbs.\nAiding Rabbit in his quest toward hip-hop stardom is his crew: the good-natured Future (an especially solid Mekhi Phifer); the dim-bulb white boy, Cheddar Bob (Evan Jones); the chubby smart-ass, Sol George (Omar Benson Miller) and his skinnier, militant brother, D.J. Iz (De'Angelo Wilson); and the sweetly slutty Alex (Brittany Murphy, in a role tailor-made for her), a model wannabe who sees Rabbit as her ticket out of Detroit.\nLuckily, "8 Mile" far exceeds previous vanity projects in which "musicians" attempted to act, i.e. "Crossroads," "Spice World" and "Cool as Ice," but that's no feat whatsoever, as each of those flicks was complete and utter crap. Eminem's cinematic debut is essentially nothing more than a hip-hop hodgepodge of "Rocky," "Saturday Night Fever," "The Karate Kid" and "Good Will Hunting" -- albeit a rip-off staged with much style. \nHanson's direction is restrained yet duly gritty. Eminem, contrary to producer Brian Grazer's pre-release ballyhoo, does not churn-out an Oscar-worthy performance. And that's not to say he's not good -- he is, but where's the difficulty in playing a role that for all intensive purposes is you? The rapper shines most brightly in scenes with Phifer (the moment in which they rap alongside Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" is priceless), tender exchanges with his younger sister, Lily (Chloe Greenfield) and in the film's waning moments when his rap skills come to the forefront in a hilariously embittered freestyle battle.\n"8 Mile" is entertaining, but at times too slow moving. Fans of Hanson may be disappointed, as the flick doesn't hold a candle to "L.A. Confidential" and "Wonder Boys," and Eminem's fans may leave dissatisfied, as the film's pretty restrained. All in all, "8 Mile" is not bad, but ultimately, it's a pale comparison of what it could've been.