PLOT: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson makes his film acting debut in this gritty, raw, urban drama set in Queens, N.Y., based on his real-life "crack-dealer-to-rapper" story. The turning point comes when 50 Cent is shot nine times -- and survives.
Let's be clear about this: Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is no Daniel Day Lewis in the thespian department.
But the rapper-turned-actor makes a credible acting debut in Get Rich Or Die Tryin' with the help of veteran Irish filmmaker Jim Sheridan, who has worked numerous times with Day Lewis on such films as My Left Foot, In The Name Of The Father, and The Boxer.
Sheridan, an expert storyteller, manages to bring out the tortured soul behind 50 Cent's tough facade in an unbelievably gritty environment and circumstances.
The director wisely surrounds the fledgling actor with such talented co-stars as Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow, Crash) as his violent best buddy-turned-manager Bama, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agabje (Oz, Lost) as his drug-dealing mentor Majestic, and veteran character actor Bill Duke as the ultracool drug kingpin Levar.
It probably helps that 50 Cent, who has a menacing presence on film, is basically reliving his own sensational life story, which documents his tougher-than-tough childhood in Queens, N.Y.
If you saw Eminem's Detroit-set story retold in 8 Mile, nothing in that film will prepare you for this grim reality.
50 Cent grew up fatherless with a drug dealer mother who was murdered when he was just eight years old.
By 10, he was also dealing crack while dabbling in rap on the side, and was later briefly imprisoned.
But it wasn't until he was shot nine times in front of his grandparents' home -- and being pronounced dead before being revived -- that he finally turned his life around.
The film ends before he is discovered by his mentors Eminem and Dr. Dre.
Standing out among the movie's many powerful and disturbing scenes is the one in which 50 Cent and Howard tussle naked with other inmates in a prison shower.
The resulting melee resembles a Francis Bacon painting-meets-Roman gladiators wrestling match, and it isn't one you'll soon forget.
There's also loads of gunplay between the 50 Cent camp and their Colombian rivals and often violent, internal juggling for position within their own ranks.
If there's one major weakness in Get Rich, it's screenwriter Terence Winter (The Sopranos), who unnecessarily ups the dramatic ante by drawing parallels between the Italian mafia and drug dealers in the 'hood.
He may be accurate -- I don't pretend to know -- but 50 Cent's real-life story is dramatic enough without all the menacing mafioso-like characters and violent torture scenes that verge on caricature.
Gunplay is one thing, using a pair of pliers to remove someone's teeth is another.
BOTTOM LINE: Fans of rapper 50 Cent will flock to this movie based on his incredible real-life story, but non-fans will also find plenty to like about the film, due to Sheridan's deft direction and the entire ensemble's acting skills.
(This film is rated 18-A)
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