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Three years ago, the rapper Eminem made a thinly disguised autobiographical film about his earlier life on the mean streets of Detroit. Though the movie was directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential, Wonder Boys), I knew going in that 8 Mile was going to be bad. What else could be the result of such a vanity project, especially one written by the writer/director of...The Mod Squad?! But to my astonishment, 8 Mile was one of the year's most pleasant surprises, as Hanson and Eminem combined to create both a compelling story and a powerful sense of place.

Three years later, it's 50 Cent's turn to make an autobiographical movie with a high-profile director. Get Rich or Die Tryin' starts off with a music video. Well, not exactly, but it might as well be. We see Marcus (Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson) in a van with a few ne'er-do-well friends heading off to a robbery. A rap song playing on the vehicle's radio makes 50 Cent smile. The bass is so heavy that the windows vibrate, and soon everyone is singing along, as if they were lip-synching on MTv. The robbery that ensues is also right out of a gangster rap video, though in this case we're given the embarrassing spectacle of 50 Cent winking at a scared little boy, just so we know that the rapper has a heart of gold.

After that rather depressing scene, the movie flashes back to Marcus's childhood, where things pick up considerably. Director Jim Sheridan has made films about Ireland and Irish immigrants like In the Name of the Father and In America, so he wouldn't have been my first choice to make a flick about the drug-dealing streets of New York. But as he showed in In America, he has a wonderful way of communicating the family dynamic. Here, the young Marcus longs to be with his mama, but she often leaves him with his grandma while she hits the streets to deal cocaine. These early scenes have a warm-hearted quality to them that doesn't overlook the pain of the situation. We see Marcus want to protect his mama, even though he's too small, and we watch him grow up, experiencing the pangs of first love along the way.

But when Marcus actually does grow up and 50 Cent returns to the stage, things start heading slowly downhill. Part of the problem is with 50 Cent himself, as no one will mistake him for a classically trained actor. But it's also the story, which is as predictable as a hip hop booty video. Young man can't stand living at home so he leaves, can't make it as a rapper so he turns to drugs, makes a name for himself on the street, endears himself to the neighborhood drug lords but alienates himself in the end, finally has to stand up for himself. Cue brutal violence and triumphant concert scene. The movie is so transparent that many people in the audience started leaving before the last scene, as if they knew not only what was coming but that they weren't going to miss much.

The film's acting is a mixed bag. Terrence Howard (Hustle and Flow) gives another strong performance, this time as a man whom Marcus meets in prison and who encourages him to drop the crime and pick up the mic. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (best known for his role on the tv show "Oz") starts off well as a drug dealer who looks after a young Marcus, but his performance becomes positively cartoonish when he rises to become the boss of the neighborhood. Joy Bryant (Antwone Fisher), who plays the singer's girlfriend, has some nice moments, but she seems chosen more for her supermodel-like looks than any sense of character. And then there's 50 Cent himself. To put it simply, he's no Eminem. His scenes with Bryant have moments of chemistry, but too often he's just a zero on the screen, bland and inexpressive and sucking the energy out of the movie. He's unfortunately upstaged by the charismatic Marc John Jefferies, who plays Marcus as a boy. I know I'm not the only one who wishes that the movie never allowed Marcus to grow up.

Sheridan is a fine director, but he seems stymied here by the conditions that were set before him. He's saddled with a mediocre actor in the lead role, a generic storyline that's designed to flatter the star, the need to play an entire soundtrack worth of music, and all with 15 producers looking over his shoulder. 15 producers! I don't think I've ever seen that many listed before. It's no wonder that the movie feels like it had too many hands in the kitchen. Get Rich or Die Tryin' is what I expected 8 Mile to be: sappy bio-pic narrative, stilted acting, overly glamorized criminal lifestyle. Unfortunately for 50 Cent and Jim Sheridan, Eminem's film raised the bar for movies starring a famous rapper. 

J. Robert Parks