Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...
Honestly, it’s Jim Sheridan that’s got me interested in this far more than 50 Cent. So did he pull off his own 8 MILE? Let’s see what Spidermonkey thinks...
Hey all,
Long time since I've written to you guys, but I just recently got the chance to watch 50 Cent's (and more importantly, Jim Sheridan's) new film "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" at Mann's the other night. I don't know if this was the first screening or not, but the film looked almost completely finished. Now, most of you know and love Sheridan, but I'm sad to report that this film simply doesn't do his skills justice. Firstly, I should tell everyone that I'm not a rap fan, I don't know a single song 50 Cent has done, and the extent of my knowledge concerning the man is that his name is actually pronounced "fittycent"... right? I am a Sheridan fan, however, so I was excited to see him approaching such a genre. After seeing the film, one thought of mine was: the poor black community isn't all that different than the poor Irish community. The surface differences are immense, as are the cultural differences, but the motivations that drive human beings to turn to either crime or their own inner strength is something that stretches from the ghettos of New York to those of Europe. That being said, this film doesn't come close to touching Sherdian's previous material. Why? Some very fundamental flaws. I'm not going to outline the plot, that information is up for grabs at a variety of sources.
1. 50 Cent - His character is DULL. I cannot state it more simply than that. Most of this is due to the writing of his character, which felt extremely watered down. He felt like a cipher, a blank, it could've been any person standing there. Perhaps it was the intention that his character feel like an "everyman" but this doesn't work because this is a niche film, with a very specific setting and culture surrounding it. Plus, his acting wasn't all that great. It's "subtle" some will say, but 50 Cent feels so restrained in the film. His character should've exploded off the screen, but instead, he/it just felt limp, like something floating in an otherwise great story. This leads to another related issue: I was very interested in the story in the film, but not HIS story. All the surrounding characters in the film were far more interesting, and I found myself wanting to see more of them than 50 Cent. This is an enormous flaw, and it's the biggest thing bringing down this film. When your main character is boring and dull, what does that say about the film? They should've made his character more unique, more volatile, I was never emotionally invested in him.
2. Terrence Howard - He fucking rules in this film, pure and simple. The man is a great actor, and he is addicting onscreen, all you want to do is see more of him. His character, 50 Cent's manager, is given tons of quirks, which makes him 10 times more interesting than 50 Cent himself.
3. Gangsta culture - There are times in the film where Sheridan shot a scene in a certain way that was just fantastic, and it began to feel in places as though he was deconstructing the mythologizing around the revered stereotype of the "gangsta." A shooting scene early in the film comes to mind, which crackles with style and tension, in those moments, Sheridan suddenly asks everyone in the audience "So, you admire these guys huh? Take a look at THIS." Another such sequence is in a prison shower, where the camera simply sits there in a wide-shot while 50 Cent struggles while naked to survive against the flash of a knife from an attacker. The men are flailing around, butt naked, wet. This scene is almost humorous in a way, but at the same time, it portrays the humiliation and degradation that comes from being in prison. Much like Mark Romanek's video for Jay-Z, this scene de-mystifies the "glamour" of the prison, the notion that prison is somehow a rite of passage. Bullshit, prison is dark, wet, cold, humiliating, and fucking dangerous, and Sheridan is able to suggest all of this in one shot. However, beyond some short sequences, the rest of the film does nothing to deconstruct the hype and admiration surrounding this dangerous culture. For that reason, much of the film feels like a wasted opportunity. That being said, even this limited amount of deconstruction was cool to see, but also led to another problem:
3. Lack of focus - Who's film is this? What is the story the audience should be concerning themselves with? It's not 50 Cent's solely, because although most of the film is about him being in a gange and then wanting to rap, much of the film is also concerned with the power struggles within the gang itself. Also, the sequences in which he struggles to rap are never powerful enough, and we never feel his struggle to break free of the mold of being in a gang. The ending was very abrupt and seemed to leave the audience asking a lot of questions, and not in a good, ambiguous way, but in a confused way. This film lacked focus, and it wasn't sure what kind of story it wanted to tell. I think this is probably due to a variety of agendas clashing on the project, including Sheridan's, 50 Cent, and the studio itself. All we have to go by, however, is the film itself, and at this stage, while not a terrible film, it's merely fair, and is mostly a bit of a mess. Too bad for all concerned.
4. Opening credits - Fucking awesome. Makes you feel the power of rap and the story more than the rest of the film does. Enough said.
Hope that explains enough of my thoughts on the film. Keep up the good work everybody, I'll be back with more soon!
- Spidermonkey
Well, that’s a mixed review if I’ve ever heard one. Better than a flat out slam, and I’m still interested in seeing what works. Hopefully I’ll get a peek at it soon m’self.
"Moriarty" out.
