Get Rich
Continuing the theme of Friday Night Movie Posts, I watched Get Rich or Die Tryin' this past week, starring Curtis Jackson (AKA 50 Cent) in a semi-autobiographical role, alongside Terrence Howard and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Jackson didn't get an Oscar nomination for his performance, and critical reviews were about as universally negative as Brokeback's were positive.
I liked it.
No, 50 didn't show much range, or much emotion, but given the life his character lives, that made a lot of sense to me. Pain and trauma tend to sap emotions, and even our passions can come off as listless; i can understand and relate to that, if only in a small way. Now if the script was written with that factor in the background, or if Jim Sheridan (In America) tailored his direction to the actor's limitations, another question altogether.
Other appreciated elements: in my eyes, the film didn't glamourize the gangster lifestyle, and while i'm not sure i can judge it as realistic or not, i would render a verdict of plausible.
There's also some truth in one of the closing lines: "I've been looking for my father all my life; I realized I was looking for myself. I felt like I was walking away from the old me, and a new me was being born."
Original and jaw-dropping? No.
Communicative, and worth hearing? Yes, especially for young guys such as myself, and it's a line with a bit of theological import. So was the tagline 'at the end of the day, what will you hang onto?', which i'd rephrase: 'what in life is worth going after?'
A film I'll be watching over and over again? No.
A film I'll pull off the shelves for bad movie night? No. That honor goes to Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, although Sam Jackson's upcoming Snakes on a Plane just might qualify.
I liked it.
No, 50 didn't show much range, or much emotion, but given the life his character lives, that made a lot of sense to me. Pain and trauma tend to sap emotions, and even our passions can come off as listless; i can understand and relate to that, if only in a small way. Now if the script was written with that factor in the background, or if Jim Sheridan (In America) tailored his direction to the actor's limitations, another question altogether.
Other appreciated elements: in my eyes, the film didn't glamourize the gangster lifestyle, and while i'm not sure i can judge it as realistic or not, i would render a verdict of plausible.
There's also some truth in one of the closing lines: "I've been looking for my father all my life; I realized I was looking for myself. I felt like I was walking away from the old me, and a new me was being born."
Original and jaw-dropping? No.
Communicative, and worth hearing? Yes, especially for young guys such as myself, and it's a line with a bit of theological import. So was the tagline 'at the end of the day, what will you hang onto?', which i'd rephrase: 'what in life is worth going after?'
A film I'll be watching over and over again? No.
A film I'll pull off the shelves for bad movie night? No. That honor goes to Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla, although Sam Jackson's upcoming Snakes on a Plane just might qualify.
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