I watched this movie for one reason: Terrence Howard. As always, Howard is brilliant. The other performances are solid, including Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson who, for people who don't seem to understand this, plays himself. (If 50 Cent were to "act", as some maintain, then he would not be portraying his true self, and the entire movie would self-destruct into a moot point.) The camera shots, angles, and lighting are superb, the dialog is genuine, and the plot line is believable. But this is not run-of-the-mill Hollywood fare. There is no seamless stream of canned emotional music to fill in the gaps for underactive imaginations. There are no handy-dandy humor scenes for fluffy feel-good filling. There are no flat characters to artificially ease the main character into some orchestrated epiphany. There isn't even really a hero. There is only a man who is trying to live as best as he can in a self-serving world, a man who finds a measure of strength even as he runs from his fears. In order to truly appreciate the message that this movie has to offer, you have to think outside of your comfortable movie-watching box. This movie is gritty, powerful and raw. This movie makes no excuses. This movie is about as close as the big screen can get to portraying real life. No, it's not a pleasant movie. Neither is life.
Review of Get Rich or Die Tryin'
