While not exactly wow, Eminem is solid and credible in a role which could so easily have screeched like chalk across a wet blackboard.

It's easy to like Jimmy Smith as well as to admire him, because Mr. Mathers lets us in, with no sign of calculation, on the kindness, even tenderness, that Jimmy conceals from most of the people around him.

In the tradition of Rocky and Fever, the movie is a shrewdly engineered piece of proletarian pop -- a story of triumph -- but, like Eminem's enraged lyrics, 8 Mile has its own kind of vile candor.

Overall, 8 Mile is a very entertaining movie. Its lead performance is still strong away from Eminem’s initial massive fame.