In 1995, Jimmy Smith Jr. is an aspiring rapper who performs under the stage name "B-Rabbit". A blue-collar worker, Jimmy has moved to the run-down Detroit trailer home of his alcoholic mother, Stephanie after breaking up with his pregnant girlfriend Janeane. He also lives with his younger sister Lily, and Stephanie's abusive live-in boyfriend, Greg, who is later revealed to be a former schoolmate of Jimmy's as well as his friend David Porter, another aspiring rapper who performs under the stage name "Future". Although encouraged by his friends, Jimmy worries about his potential as a rapper. One night, Jimmy develops stage fright during a rap battle at a local venue, the Shelter, hosted by Future, and he leaves the stage humiliated.
During the day, Jimmy works at a car factory. Desperate for money, he asks for extra shifts, but his supervisor bluntly dismisses his request because of his habitual tardiness. Later on, he befriends a woman named Alex and begins to take more responsibility for the direction of his life. Stephanie discovers an eviction notice as Jimmy is getting ready for work, deciding not to reveal it to Greg because he has a large settlement check from an accident coming in, which she hopes will buy her and Lily a new house.
Jimmy's friendship with fellow trailer park resident Wink, who has ties to a record label promoter, becomes strained after he discovers that Wink does promotional work for Jimmy's rivals, a rap group known as "Leaders of the Free World" who Jimmy had lost the prior rap battle to. At one point, Jimmy and his friends get into a violent brawl with the Free World crew, which is disrupted when Jimmy's friend, Cheddar Bob, threatens them with a gun and accidentally shoots himself in the crotch; he survives after being rushed to the hospital.
During a lunch break at work, one of Jimmy's co-workers performs a freestyle rap insulting his co-worker, Paul, insinuating Paul is gay as well as insulting some of the other workers. Jimmy raps a freestyle defending Paul, which improves his confidence after a receiving a positive reception from Jimmy's coworkers. Alex arrives, impressed by Jimmy's talent, and they have sex.
Despite her best attempts to keep the eviction notice a secret, Greg discovers it and confronts Stephanie. When Jimmy punches Greg for pushing his mother to the ground, they get into a fight, ending in Greg leaving Stephanie for good. After Jimmy finds Stephanie lying on the porch, intoxicated, and brings her inside, the two get into an argument over Jimmy's actions, ending with Stephanie furiously kicking Jimmy out of the trailer.
Wink arranges for Jimmy to meet with producers at a recording studio, but Jimmy finds Wink and Alex having sex. Enraged, Jimmy attacks Wink as Alex tries to stop it. In retaliation, Wink and the Leaders of the Free World bully and assault Jimmy outside his trailer. The leader of the gang, Papa Doc, holds Jimmy at gunpoint and threatens to kill him, but Wink convinces him not to do it. After the group has left Jimmy alone, his mother arrives with enough money to pay to avoid eviction, having won $3,200 at a bingo tournament.
Future encourages Jimmy to get revenge by competing against the Leaders of the Free World at the next rap battle. Jimmy agrees, but his boss, having noticed his improved efforts at work, asks Jimmy to work a late-night shift. Jimmy agrees, but it conflicts with the battle at the Shelter. Alex unexpectedly visits Jimmy at work. She says goodbye, as she is going to New York, and she is hoping to see Jimmy at the Shelter later. This motivates Jimmy to do the battle. He asks Paul to cover the start of his shift as a favor while Jimmy goes to the battle.
In all rounds of the battle, Jimmy has to compete against one member of the Free World crew. After handily winning the first two rounds against Lyckety-Splyt and Lotto, he faces Papa Doc. Going first, Jimmy pre-empts Papa Doc's potential insults, acknowledging his own "white trash" roots and difficult life as well as the events of the film involving his prior loss, Cheddar Bob, Wink and Alex. He ends his battle repudiating Papa Doc's image as a thug by exposing his privileged background, having grown up in a wealthy suburb, attended a private school, his parents having a stable marriage, and him living with them, and the fact that his real name is Clarence. Embarrassed and with nothing to say in rebuttal, Papa Doc hands the microphone back to Future, conceding the battle.
After being congratulated by Alex and his friends, Jimmy is offered a position by Future to co-host battles at the Shelter. Jimmy declines, saying that hosting is Future's thing, and he needs to do his own, and leaves to return to work.
Cast
Eminem as James "Jimmy" Smith Jr., a rapper who uses the stage name "B-Rabbit"
Kim Basinger as Stephanie Smith, Jimmy and Lily's mother
Mekhi Phifer as David Porter a.k.a. Future, Jimmy's best friend and the rap battle host
Hanson explained that his bond with Eminem began when they discussed their shared vision for 8 Mile. Eminem’s admiration for Hanson’s earlier films, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) and L.A. Confidential (1997), helped build trust. Hanson noted that Eminem didn’t want a vanity project; instead, he sought to be part of a meaningful film. Initially, Hanson was cautious about casting him, worried that Eminem’s reputation could be a liability. He recalled a remark from actor Russell Crowe, who had previously worked with Hanson, upon hearing about the project: “Good idea, Curtis. But who are you going to get to play Eminem?” highlighting the risk of whether Eminem could carry the film as an actor. Ultimately, Hanson was won over by Eminem’s natural charisma, particularly in his expressive eyes, a quality Hanson described as essential for engaging audiences and carrying the story.[9]
Hanson said that Eminem was involved in 8 Mile from the project's inception, as writer Scott Silver developed the script with him in mind. Early drafts, however, lacked a strong connection to Detroit and set Eminem’s character as a hotel bellboy. Hanson reworked the script to ground it in Detroit’s identity, moving the character to an automotive stamping plant, shifting the timeline to 1995, and adding elements like the local radio station and arson scenes emblematic of the city’s struggles. While Eminem’s input on the script was limited to initial discussions, Hanson collaborated with him closely during rehearsals, particularly on the rap battles, explaining their thematic significance as Eminem crafted lyrics, including the theme song “Lose Yourself.” Hanson emphasized authentic casting, bringing in Detroit locals and fostering a bond among the actors, most of whom were new to film. Their group name, 3 1/3, emerged organically during rehearsals, symbolizing Detroit’s 313 area code and a deeper commentary on identity and unity. For Hanson, the goal was to create an authentic portrayal of this world, finding performers who could fully embody their characters.[9]
Music
8 Mile: Music from and Inspired by the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to 8 Mile. Eminem features on five tracks from the album. It was released under the Shady/Interscope label and spawned Eminem's first number 1 US single[12] "Lose Yourself". The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart that year, with over 702,000 copies sold, and a further 507,000 copies were sold in the second week, also finishing the year as the fifth-best-selling album of 2002, with US sales of 3.2 million despite being on the market for only two months.
Reception
Box office
8 Mile opened with $51,240,555 in its opening weekend, the then second-highest opening for an R-rated movie in the U.S., after Hannibal.[13] The film would hold the record for having the highest November opening weekend for an R-rated film until 2024 when Gladiator II surpassed it.[14] It topped the box office upon opening, beating The Santa Clause 2.[15] During its second weekend, the film dropped into second place behind Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, making $21.3 million.[16] The film would go on to gross $116,750,901 domestically and $126,124,177 overseas, for a total of $242,875,078 worldwide.[4] The film's final domestic gross would hold the film at No. 3 in Box Office Mojo's "Pop Star Debuts" list, behind Austin Powers in Goldmember (Beyoncé) and The Bodyguard (Whitney Houston).
8 Mile received positive reviews, with critics praising the music and Eminem's debut performance.[20][21][22][23] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports the film has 75% of 214 professional critics giving it a positive review, with a rating average of 6.70/10. The site's consensus is that "Even though the story is overly familiar, there's enough here for an engaging ride."[24] On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted mean rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a "generally favorable" rating of 77 based on 38 reviews.[25]CinemaScore polls conducted during the opening weekend revealed the average grade cinemagoers gave 8 Mile was "B+" on an A+ to F scale, with the core under-21 demographics giving it an A.[26]
Roger Ebert gave the film three out of four. He said that we "are hardly started in 8 Mile, and already we see that this movie stands aside from routine debut films by pop stars" and that it is "a faithful reflection of his myth". He said that Eminem, as an actor, is "convincing without being too electric" and "survives the X-ray truth-telling of the movie camera".[27] In the At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper review, both Ebert and Richard Roeper gave the film a thumbs up; Roeper said that Eminem has a "winning screen presence" and "raw magic" to him. He was happy with Rabbit's "tender side" presented through his relationship with the "adorable" Greenfield as his sister, but felt that Basinger was "really miscast". Roeper said: "8 Mile probably won't win converts to rap, but it should thrill Eminem fans".[20] Eleanor Ringel Cater of The Atlanta Constitution gave the film a C, saying "As music star movie debuts go, 8 Mile is hardly A Hard Day's Night, but it's not Crossroads, either".[28]
Peter Travers gave the film three and a half out of four. He said that 8 Mile "is a real movie, not a fast-buck package to exploit the fan base of a rap nonentity" that "qualifies as a cinematic event by tapping into the roots of Eminem and the fury and feeling that inform his rap." He praised Hanson's directing and the performances and compared the final battle with Papa Doc to the fight between Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed in Rocky.[29]
Top lists
8 Mile has been named in various year-end and all-time top lists:
2nd – Billboard (Erika Ramirez): Top 10 Best Hip-Hop Movies Ever[30]
8 Mile was first released on VHS and DVD on March 18, 2003.[47] A UMD version was released on November 15, 2005.[48] The DVD release generated $75 million in sales and rentals in its first week, making it the biggest DVD debut ever for an R-rated movie and putting it in the all-time Top 10 for first week home video sales for a movie.[49][50][51] The film was later released on Blu-ray on April 14, 2009.[52] It was released on Ultra HD Blu-ray on November 8, 2022, for the 20th anniversary of the theatrical release.[53][54]
^Travers, Peter (8 November 2002). "8 Mile". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 18 August 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021. Eminem holds the camera by natural right. His screen presence is electric. His sulk — hooded eyes that suddenly spark with danger — has an intensity to rival James Dean's. And he reads lines with an offbeat freshness.
^Clinton, Paul (December 28, 2002). "Review: '8 Mile' a winning debut for Eminem". CNN. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021. Eminem appears to be a natural as he conveys the emotional turmoil experienced by his character. The love for his music and his yearning to better himself is burning in is eyes.
