Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Review: 50 Cent's Dime Store 8 Mile

Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson makes his long-awaited film debut in Get Rich or Die Tryin’, a semi-autobiographical piece that only wishes it could be as poignant as 2002’s 8 Mile, starring fellow rapper Eminem. But because of a plot that takes twice as long to tell as it should, and a performance by Jackson which leaves little question why he raps instead of acts, Get Rich not only fails to live up to 8 Mile’s high standards, it fails to adequately portray a life which seems to have been written for the big screen.

Get Rich follows the life and times of young gansta-rapper Marcus, a drug dealer/would-be performer/orphan. The film opens with Marcus and crew robbing a Columbian check-casher, and then fleeing the cops. Marcus returns home, only to be gunned down by an assailant- a poignant portrayal of the real Jackson’s career defining nine-bullet survival story, which turns out to be one of the best scenes in the film. From there, the majority of the film is told in a flashback chronicling Marcus’ young life, from his childhood days with his mother, to her death and his subsequent plunge into the world of dealing drugs with ambitious local drug maverick Majestic, his mother’s former boss.

Curtis himself narrates the entire film, guiding viewers through what he describes as his search for his father, although that issue rarely comes into play until the climactic final scene. As the plot rolls on- and on, and on- Marcus makes a name for himself in Majestic’s circle, eventually becoming his right-hand man. The conflict starts when Marcus’ ambitions slowly begin to change from drug dealing to rap after he runs into his childhood squeeze, whom he hasn’t seen since one of the funniest scenes in the film, in which her parents discover twelve-year old Marcus’ first rap song and immediately move her out of town.

Disappointingly, 50’s rhyming abilities aren’t exactly put through their paces at all during the film. We don’t even get to hear him rap until the final third of the movie; and even then it isn’t much to appease most viewers, who probably would have expected more rap in a movie about a rapper. On top of that, 50’s acting is as insulting to the audience as his lyrics are to an eighty-year old. Despite being surrounded by some admittedly solid acting by much of his supporting cast, 50 still falls flat most of the time, with the exception of a handful of more believable scenes spread far too few between to keep viewers convinced. Put simply, when the child actor playing your younger self can turn out a better performance than you, you know you’ve got casting problems.

Get Rich’s biggest problem is that it would have been much better if it had paced itself more quickly. At a feet-dragging 1 hr. 50 min. in length, Get Rich takes way too long to tell a story which could easily have been told in slightly more than half the time. If you’re a die-hard 50 fan, you’d probably enjoy Get Rich much more than the average movie-goer. Otherwise, you’d be best off sticking with 8 Mile.

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is rated R for strong violence, pervasive language, drug content, sexuality and nudity.