Title: Get Rich Or Die Tryin' (2005)
Directed By: Jim Sheridan
Written By: Terence Winter
Cast: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Terence Howard, Joy Bryant, Bill Duke
Is 50 Cents Hollywood debut worth sitting through?
I was too young to really appreciate the original appearance of hip-hop music, artists and influence in mainstream media. Fortunately, I had an elder brother whod bring home the flicks such as
Beat Street and
Disorderlies. Sure they werent landmark movies but I was young and easily entertained.
The 90s saw a re-emergence of this sub-genre. This time most of them didnt even get a theatrical release. The few that did never made much money and were universally panned by critics. This still didnt stop me from wanting to watch these abominations just to see my favorite rap artist try to act. None of them made good actors but they did provide some (unintentional) laughs.
Since its miniscule start, hip-hop/rap has grown into one of the top-selling genres. Artists have gone from being mere songwriters to endorsing brands to even starting their own. Hollywood isnt far behind in attempting to cash in on its growing popularity.
Followers of "Lost" will recognise this familiar face.
Movies such as
Honey and
Save The Last Dance have employed the musical genre in some (corny) aspect. Rap artists have been handed parts from minor characters to playing the lead. One can account for
Will Smith being the first to make a successful transition, or even gangster rapper gone soft
Ice Cube, but it truly wasnt until
Marshall Mathars a/k/a
Eminem made his debut in the semi-autobiographical
8 Mile that Hollywood had found a formula for translating a rappers movie appearance into big box-office dollars.
The formula is remarkably simply cast a rapper with a large fan base, have a story loosely based on the said artists life, get a renowned director to ensure the acting is decent if not remarkable, hire known actors for supporting roles to make sure theres some decent acting and have an excellent soundtrack so even if the movie tanks the money from CD sales would help the studio break even. (cont'd)
