film get rich or die tryin'

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
November 9, 2005
Even a Ruthless Thug Can Have a Sensitive Side
By A. O. SCOTT
Published: November 9, 2005
"Get Rich or Die Tryin' " is the latest film to propose hip-hop stardom as both an alternative to and an extension of the criminal life. Directed by Jim Sheridan from a jampacked script by Terence Winter, the film is loosely based on the experiences of its star, the glowering, tattooed rapper 50 Cent (also known as Curtis Jackson).
The opening scene is a chaotic armed robbery that ends with Mr. Jackson's character, an aspiring hip-hop artist and successful drug dealer named Marcus, being shot nine times. (From there, it flashes back to Marcus's childhood.) At a similar moment of career transition, Mr. Jackson took the same number of bullets (including one in the mouth that left fragments embedded in his tongue), a parallel clearly meant to bolster the movie's realism.
But in hip-hop, and especially in hip-hop movies, the boundaries between fact and fable are notoriously blurry. Since so many rappers model their personas on big-screen gangsters - "Scarface" and "Goodfellas" are particular touchstones - it is only fitting that their cinematic vehicles should follow sturdy genre conventions. And "Get Rich or Die Tryin' " is an awkward, sometimes engaging blend of two well-worn formulas. It is a follow-your-dream tale of adversity and redemption, somewhat in the manner of "8 Mile" and "Hustle & Flow," combined with an underworld saga of betrayal and revenge - a smoother, more upscale variation on the rough and raucous "State Property" franchise.
As such, it is a triumph of packaging, a carefully engineered product aimed at satisfying the sometimes contradictory needs and concerns of the mass audience. Its violence is intense, but it never crosses over into nihilism because the hero, while unquestionably tough, stops short of killing. The early images of Marcus as a sensitive, fatherless boy (played by Marc John Jefferies) linger as he grows into manhood. And though 50 Cent, in his breakthrough hit "In Da Club," chanted "I'm into having sex, I ain't into making love," Marcus shows a decidedly chivalric streak, and a willingness to commit to his childhood sweetheart, Charlene (Joy Bryant). He is a ruthless thug with a sensitive side. An eager, disarming smile occasionally lights up Mr. Jackson's hard, impassive face, and at one point a tear even falls from his eye.
Unfortunately, that tear represents the far horizon of his range as an actor. As a rapper, 50 Cent has been an overachiever, selling boatloads of records in spite of his pedestrian skills. Lacking the verbal wit of a Jay-Z, the storytelling ability of a Biggie Smalls or the engaging personality of a Kanye West, he has gotten over through doggedness and a certain truculent charisma. That is not quite enough to sustain nearly two hours of drama, however, and Mr. Jackson is an inert, clumsy presence at the center of the movie, which seems to have been edited around his deficiencies.
The heavy reliance on voice-over narration is one sign of this. Another is that the most memorable performances belong to secondary players, including Ms. Bryant, Terrence Howard of "Hustle & Flow" (as a hoodlum named Bama, who meets Marcus in a prison shower), Viola Davis (as Marcus's weary, loving grandmother) and the two heavies, Bill Duke and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. They all chip in to carry the picture, and Mr. Jackson along with it, to a level slightly above mediocrity. Mr. Sheridan, whose other movies include "My Left Foot," "The Boxer," "In the Name of the Father" and "In America," deserves some credit as well, for infusing a chaotic story with some touches of warm, easy humanism. This director specializes in stories of dreamers and strivers struggling with adverse circumstances, and he has an instinct for both the loneliness of the struggle and the solidarity that helps it along. The parts of "Get Rich or Die Tryin' " that feel most genuine have to do with friendship and family, rather than with criminal intrigue.
But the movie ultimately lacks an emotional core. It will certainly make 50 Cent even richer, but it wouldn't have killed him to try a bit harder.
"Get Rich or Die Tryin' " is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It has violence, obscenity and some sexual scenes and references.
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Opens today nationwide.
Directed by Jim Sheridan; written by Terence Winter; director of photography, Declan Quinn; edited by Conrad Buff and Roger Barton; music by Quincy Jones, Gavin Friday and Maurice Seezer; production designer, Mark Geraghty; produced by Mr. Sheridan, Jimmy Iovine, Paul Rosenberg and Chris Lighty; released by Paramount Pictures. Running time: 134 minutes.
WITH: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson (Marcus), Terrence Howard (Bama), Joy Bryant (Charlene), Bill Duke (Levar), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Majestic), Omar Benson Miller (Keryl), Tory Kittles (Justice) and Viola Davis (Grandma).