Make way for a 'new' star

8 Mile

Director: Curtis Hanson

Cast: Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy

Cert: 18.

The white rapper, Eminem - though he hates his colour being such an issue - makes his screen debut in a drama based, by and large, on his own life. And it's a remarkably subtle and accomplished debut.

Director Hanson takes the week-in-the-life-of formula and brings us a film which is highly-observant of the street life, highly articulate and often very witty. But the performance of Eminem as Jimmy 'Rabbit' Smith, a Detroit factory worker with pop ambitions, is a quite excellent one.

The title refers to the Michigan road which divides the haves from the have-nots (an area which the singer knows) and though the overall plot of 8 Mile is a quite conventional one, it is played to the full, not least by Basinger as Smith's mother. For the actress this is another chance to team up with the director who, as the producer of LA Confidential, helped her to an Oscar several years ago.

Eminem emerges from this fine film as a potential actor of note, full of vulnerability and vitality. A star is most decidedly born!

Star Rating: 4/5.