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Back Shelf Beauties
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Get Rich Or Die Tryin' Good news for 50 Cent! He doesn't have to worry about finding a date and a tux for the Oscars, because he won't be invited to the ceremony. In a movie based on his life (50 Cent has said the movie is 75% real), Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson stars as Marcus - a gangster from Jamaica, Queens who wants to become a rap star. One night, after leading his crew in a successful robbery, Marcus returns home to his grandmother's house, is shot 9 times, and left for dead. As he lays bleeding in the street, Marcus reflects on his life of crime and the struggle to follow his dream, which gives the audience a chance to see his life from being a kid whose mother was a drug dealer to his criminal career to time in jail to the moment he turns his life around, so he can live the legit life. Can Marcus overcome it all to become a success? Who shot him, and who ordered the hit? Some friends have joked 50 Cent and his crew might come looking for me if I am too critical of the movie, but so many people are going to hate Get Rich or Die Tryin', I'll be very far down his list of retribution. Anyway, sitting through this movie felt like getting shot 9 times, so who really hurt whom? Director Jim Sheridan and writer Terence Winter fail to find the emotion and plot of the movie until it is too late. For about ¾ of the film, Get Rich or Die Tryin' slogs along without a focus. Winter fails to create meaningful, interesting or realistic dialogue, which leaves the actors with nothing to act from. He could have created some drama and a plot by giving Marcus more of a desire to solve the mystery of his paternity and find the person responsible for a horrible act committed against his mother, but much of this is brushed aside in a failed attempt to paint a picture of the gangster life Marcus leads as he claws his way up the criminal ladder and enjoys the spoils. Sheridan spends too much time telling us about Marcus's early life as a child, and this portion of the movie suffers greatly as young Marc John Jeffries (10 Cent?), playing the role of Marcus as a 10-year old, is unable to handle the material and can't perform at the level necessary for a major motion picture. Although, he might have been holding back to be more like the real 50 Cent, who isn't much of an actor in his own right. For most of the film, 50 Cent performs in a monotone that could put you to sleep, and fails to make Marcus into a three-dimensional character with passion, desire or sadness. I can understand having difficulties with your first acting role if you are in a Shakespeare production or some Tom Hanks movie, but 50 Cent is playing himself. HOW HARD CAN THAT BE?!?!?!?! Obviously, it's very hard for this guy. 50 Cent needs to stick to rapping, because he's much better at it. Sadly, 50 Cent isn't the only one guilty of bad acting. I guess the supporting cast is made up of his buddies because they stink just as bad. Tory Kittles broods his way through his performance as Justice, a member of Marcus's crew who wants Marcus to get back into drug dealing when he gets out of jail, while the rest of the Marcus crew members pose and try to look surprised at the right moments (try, not succeed). Meanwhile, Joy Bryant, as Marcus's girlfriend Charlene, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, as Majestic, never have a special moment to shine, which is a shame for such accomplished actors. As far as co-star Terrence Howard as Bama - a fellow inmate who helps Marcus turn his life around - I really liked him in Crash and Hustle & Flow. I guess this movie proves material matters. Sheridan and Winter finally find their footing for the last half hour of Get Rich or Die Tryin' as Marcus must choose between a life of crime or making it as a rapper, battles with his old crime buddies and finds new purpose in life, which lifts the movie and all performances up a notch, but it's too late to save the film. You'll be dying to get out of the theater as fast as possible. 1 Waffle (Out Of 4) Copyright 2005 - WaffleMovies.com
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