50 Cent gives dollar value
Get Rich or Die Tryin’
Starring Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Terrence Howard and Joy Bryant. Directed by Jim Sheridan. At major theatres. Knickers are getting twisted stateside over billboards showing superstar rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson holding a microphone in one hand and a gun in the other, promoting his bigscreen debut in Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Moral authorities are understandably upset about a pop icon promoting violence, even though that’s hardly a novelty for this genre of music. The irony is that the film, based on Jackson’s life and his best- selling album of the same name, is better than just business as usual, and only part of that has to do with the rapper’s modest achievement as an actor. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ has something not often found in this type of movie: a real story.
In documenting Jackson’s rise to rap glory and his hard- won knowledge about life and survival, it stands apart from the hip- hop herd by providing plausible reasons for the attendant violence. Gunshots ring out and blood is spilled, but we get more than just the hollow posturing of gangstas — until the final reel, when predictability finally takes hold. Comparisons with such previous films as the Eminem showcase 8 Mile and last summer’s Sundance hit Hustle & Flow are valid, but a more appropriate touchstone might be Donnie Brasco, where the acquiring of wisdom also came with the stench of gunpowder. The choice of Ireland’s Jim Sheridan as director doesn’t make immediate sense. The