Wannabe rapper Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith Jr. lives on the mean streets of Detroit, and his only way out is to make it on his own. Although it seems like the odds are against him, Jimmy has a dream that will be his ticket out of his trailer park home. This is the premise for the new Eminem movie 8 Mile that entered theaters recently.

The abrasive Eminem is yet another singer / rapper turned actor trying to gain respect in the movie industry. Many are referring it to a contemporary Saturday Night Fever, yet this movie has all the ambition of a cheesy Elvis movie. Oscar winner Kim Basinger must be desperate for a paycheck, and talented Mekhi Phifer is utterly wasted in this film. Brittany Murphy is stuck as Alex, the ambitious model who wants to ride Jimmy to the top of his career.

In the movie, Rabbit, a fictionalized version of the real life Eminem, is living back at home with his trailer trash mother (Basinger) living with a much younger man who constantly mistreats her in front of her young daughter Lily. Rabbit?s friends are a crew of good-hearted dropouts who refer to themselves as the 3-1-3, and Phifer plays Jimmy?s best friend / mentor / confidence booster Future.

Future hosts a local weekly 'rap battle'. Jimmy chokes his first time and the rest of the film is how he picks himself back up to gain respect in front of the opposing "posse" The Free World, and the rest of the community, who sees him as another lame white kid trying to act "hard."

This is definitely no West Side Story, but if you're okay with an "eh" movie, go see 8 mile. Don't be looking for Oscar winning performances, but if you want a good time, and if you like Eminem, than this is the movie for you