A Review by Phil Calabro
2005, Paramount Pictures/MTV Films, Dir. Jim Sheridan - Starring Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Joy Bryant, Omar Benson Miller, Tory Kittles, Terrence Howard, Ashley Walters, Marc John Jefferies, Viola Davis, Sullivan Walker, Serena Reeder
'Hustle & Flow' and 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' have very similar storylines - both tell the tale of the right man stuck in the wrong job, and want to break free from this bondage through expression. 'Hustle & Flow' was sweet, sultry, and rhythmic: a festival of the arts as told through Terrence Howard. 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' is an unremarkable failure. The story material isn't bad, and neither is the writing. But there's a distinct lack of effort between everybody's part in this film. Jim Sheridan, who won over American audiences with 'In America', must have thought the topic of American poverty was worth another round - but he was matched with a misfire. The true blame, of course, lies in the sweaty undershirt of 50 Cent, who exerts absolutely no emotional substance into his semi-autobiography whatsoever. This isn't 'Crossroads', but it lies in noticable distance.
Marcus (50 Cent) doesn't know who his father is, but knows his mother Katrina (Reeder) is a drug dealer because of all the nice clothes she buys him. But when Katrina is found dead one day, Marcus moves in with his grandparents (Davis and Walker), only to learn that the worst is coming to him. He begins to sell drugs on street corners, and is matched up with a slimy crime lord Majestic (Akinnuoye-Agbaje) to sell for his mother's former employees. Marc establishes a crew for himself, and business begins - he labels himself a gangsta, but still spends his time recording mix tapes, a tradition since he was a child. Soon Marcus can't take it anymore, but decides to dedicate all his time to his career. But once Majestic takes hold on the crime ring, he has other plans for the cavalier young rap star.
You know when you're pulling through the drive-through at McDonald's, and you're about to order your meal to this plastic-metal box with a speaker only to be introduced by a wooden and droll voice? Watching 50 Cent act is much like ordering from the drive-through - the same deadwood tone of voice, the same dryness in character, and you never really get to see what's behind that voice. Our hero/protagonist has a lot on his shoulders - past family troubles, being part of an elusive yet enormous drug war, and having his head capped for leaving the business. But none of these events have any resonance in the movie whatsoever, as they are skimmed by the audience and soon forgotten. We're never brought into the wonders of who 50's father may have been, but we don't seem to care either. What hurts most is the turning point in 50's life - his out-of-body experience once he is shot 9 times yet still survives. To be shot 9 times and live is a moment of valor, but once 30 minutes past, I left it in the past. Terrence Howard, upcoming star of the year, shows up about an hour too late and doesn't leave the slighest imprint on the viewer.
Director Sheridan is to blame for this, however. He never keeps a consistent focus on the story at any point, but allows the film to become a shrine to everything 50 Cent says and does. I bring up one example, which astounded me. Marcus is sent to jail, and he's taking a shower with four other men. In a split second, the audience ends up watching the same shot of the five men fighting and beating each other apart in the nude - a little overkill on 50's body to say the least. There's no heart or pain echoing in his brawl, but a petty excuse to show the rapper's body in the buff - and it's times like these that make me wonder how these films get greenlighted in the first place. Leaving 50 Cent as the sole focus of 'Get Rich', and never allowing his supporting characters to connect with him, alienates the viewer and leaves him or her trying to care.
'Get Rich or Die Tryin' is a modern example of sad, unmotivated filmmaking. Unlike Sheridan's riveting pieces of the past, 'Get Rich' has the emotional flow of a dripping faucet. But every filmmaker has his bad days: Coppola had his 'Jack', Spielberg had his '1941', George Lucas had his 'Howard the Duck'. Now Sheridan's stuck with a bad rap.
