Film Synopsis: The story of Marcus Grier (Jackson), an orphaned street kid who gains rank in the drug trade but after a tragic shooting decides to leave the violence behind and become a rap artist. The film is based on Jackson's autobiography From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon A Time in Southside Queens. I had an opportunity to talk with 50 just days before the film was released. By his own words this movie is 70% accurate and 30% Hollywood.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Charles Drew, Thurgood Marshall, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, George Washington Carver all the great ones, right? Out of all the celebrated accomplishments of African Americans in the fields of medicine, science and the arts, when were we reduced to watching biopics about drug dealers who became rappers? When did that become the African American dream? And yet twice in 2005 some producer told the story of a wannabe rapper with all the intensity of Schindler's list and The English Patient put together. Just because the music is serious, doesn't mean I'll take it seriously.
Most of us justify our love of gangsta rap and their tales from the darkside of the streets with the cliché line: "It's not real. It's all a hype." Of course some guy in a tall T and Timbs will emphatically support the rapper saying, "Naw that's not true, he had a beef wit at the Hit Factory in 03. His manager got shot!" And then you go see a movie like Get Rich or Die Trying. A movie that is the exact embodiment of every gangsta rap song ever produced. Intro, verse, hook, verse, bridge, hook, out- remixed with a little 50-lore made this flick real predictable. Bad dialog, bad clothes and bad hair. What's worse, the actors that could have brought the pain like Terrance Howard, Mykelti Williamson and Viola Davis were not given enough screen time to make a difference in the quality of the film. And as with most mediocre screenplays the ending fell to pieces. As for Jackson's performance, he couldn't quite hold his own with the more seasoned actors in the cast. But in all fairness for a drug dealer who became a rapper who became an actor he wasn't that bad.
This movie raises a social problem. If it is all just hype then we put it under the Scarface category of gangster fiction and go to sleep still feeling like good people. However, if the premise of the story is indeed based in truth, then we have to ask ourselves where do we draw the line on entertainment? When does it stop being fun and start being wrong? I know my social conscience was not offended when it was just a song. Maybe rappers need to keep their stories on wax 50 believes his story is worth telling if for no other reason, it's a blueprint of what not to do. He wasted years dealing that he could have been rapping. I think that part of the message is lost in the film. He makes it look simple, worthwhile and cool. His tragic shooting has more value as street credit than as a hard life lesson. Mr. Jackson is very confident that his story will either inspire or make envy. In this writer's opinion, repulsion is also a possibility. However, it takes courage to tell such a shameful story and something has to be said for that.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Charles Drew, Thurgood Marshall, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, George Washington Carver all the great ones, right? Out of all the celebrated accomplishments of African Americans in the fields of medicine, science and the arts, when were we reduced to watching biopics about drug dealers who became rappers? When did that become the African American dream? And yet twice in 2005 some producer told the story of a wannabe rapper with all the intensity of Schindler's list and The English Patient put together. Just because the music is serious, doesn't mean I'll take it seriously.
Most of us justify our love of gangsta rap and their tales from the darkside of the streets with the cliché line: "It's not real. It's all a hype." Of course some guy in a tall T and Timbs will emphatically support the rapper saying, "Naw that's not true, he had a beef wit at the Hit Factory in 03. His manager got shot!" And then you go see a movie like Get Rich or Die Trying. A movie that is the exact embodiment of every gangsta rap song ever produced. Intro, verse, hook, verse, bridge, hook, out- remixed with a little 50-lore made this flick real predictable. Bad dialog, bad clothes and bad hair. What's worse, the actors that could have brought the pain like Terrance Howard, Mykelti Williamson and Viola Davis were not given enough screen time to make a difference in the quality of the film. And as with most mediocre screenplays the ending fell to pieces. As for Jackson's performance, he couldn't quite hold his own with the more seasoned actors in the cast. But in all fairness for a drug dealer who became a rapper who became an actor he wasn't that bad.
This movie raises a social problem. If it is all just hype then we put it under the Scarface category of gangster fiction and go to sleep still feeling like good people. However, if the premise of the story is indeed based in truth, then we have to ask ourselves where do we draw the line on entertainment? When does it stop being fun and start being wrong? I know my social conscience was not offended when it was just a song. Maybe rappers need to keep their stories on wax 50 believes his story is worth telling if for no other reason, it's a blueprint of what not to do. He wasted years dealing that he could have been rapping. I think that part of the message is lost in the film. He makes it look simple, worthwhile and cool. His tragic shooting has more value as street credit than as a hard life lesson. Mr. Jackson is very confident that his story will either inspire or make envy. In this writer's opinion, repulsion is also a possibility. However, it takes courage to tell such a shameful story and something has to be said for that.