For Jimmy Smith, Jr., life is a daily fight just to keep hope alive. Feeding his dreams in Detroit's vibrant music scene, Jimmy wages an extraordinary personal struggle to find his own voice - and earn a place in a world where rhymes rule, legends are born and every moment… is another chance.
Directed by Curtis Hanson
individual
adolescence
rap music
hip-hop
rhyme battle
trailer park
street gang
ethnic stereotype
rapper
ghetto
single
detroit, michigan
semi autobiographical
1990s
battle rap
Rank
#54 in 2002·#3436 overall
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.6 / 5
Where to Watch
Cast
Eminem
Jimmy
Kim Basinger
Stephanie
Mekhi Phifer
Future
Brittany Murphy
Alex
Evan Jones
Cheddar Bob
Omar Benson Miller
Sol George
De'Angelo Wilson
DJ IZ
Eugene Byrd
Wink
Taryn Manning
Janeane
Proof
Lil'Tic
DJ Head
Battle DJ
Michael Shannon
Greg Buehl
Crew
Curtis Hanson
Director
Scott Silver
Writer
Rodrigo Prieto
Director of Photography
Brian Grazer
Producer
Jimmy Iovine
Producer
Gregory Goodman
Executive Producer
Curtis Hanson
Producer
Jim Whitaker
Executive Producer
Paul Rosenberg
Executive Producer
Carol Fenelon
Executive Producer
Carol Fenelon
Music Supervisor
Mark Bridges
Costume Design
Popular Reviews
3430 reviews
John Ryan
7.0★ · 09/16/25
68/100
68/100
3
1
Dionysis
6.0★ · 05/21/26
All I listened to during middle school was Eminem
All I listened to during middle school was Eminem
2
Andre
8.0★ · 01/16/26
eminem portrays this story so well, i’m not sure how much of it is a real lived experience or if it’s just representative but it’s truly great
eminem portrays this story so well, i’m not sure how much of it is a real lived experience or if it’s just representative but it’s truly great
1
Noah
7.8★ · 01/03/26
This film is great! It feels so raw and real in such a unique way. Eminem is great as the lead but the rest of the cast does a superb job as well especially Anthony Mackie! I really love the look of this film and I think it’s mostly due to the lighting. The final shot in particular of Rabbit walking away looked particularly great as well as the bathroom shots. Also extra marks because this film gave the world “Loose Yourself” 🙌
This film is great! It feels so raw and real in such a unique way. Eminem is great as the lead but the rest of the cast does a superb job as well especially Anthony Mackie! I really love the look of this film and I think it’s mostly due to the lighting. The final shot in particular of Rabbit walking away looked particularly great as well as the bathroom shots. Also extra marks because this film gave the world “Loose Yourself” 🙌
1
Kewy
9.0★ · 09/11/24
Very underrated when I first saw it i thought Eminem wouldn’t do a good job in acting since he’s not an actor but damn he really was amazing
Very underrated when I first saw it i thought Eminem wouldn’t do a good job in acting since he’s not an actor but damn he really was amazing
