Rapper effective in big screen debut By Matt Soergel Times-Union movie writer Can Eminem really act? That's still not clear. But as 8 Mile demonstrates, he is quite good at playing himself. We may not be seeing Eminem in a puffy white shirt in the next Jane Austen adaptation, but as a tough, trailer-living Detroit rapper, he is perfectly cast. He's convincingly hot-tempered, brooding and ambitious. He underplays, even: There's no showboating, just a level-headed reality. For that reason, the movie works just fine. 8 Mile can boast that it has L.A. Confidential's Oscar-nominated director, Curtis Hanson, and L.A. Confidential's Oscar-winning co-star, Kim Basinger, but few people are going to see 8 Mile for those reasons. They'll go for Eminem, all by himself. 8 Mile -- named after the street that divides black and white Detroit -- has loads of gritty texture, much you-are-there detail. And seeing as how it's set in the impoverished parts of the wintry Motor City, you'll be glad you're not there. What it doesn't have is much of a story; I could give you the plot in 25 words or less if I were the kind of person who gave away the whole plot, which I'm not. 8 Mile *** out of 4 Who's it for? Eminem's fans. He might even win some new ones. Credits: Starring Eminem, Kim Basinger, Mekhi Phifer and Brittany Murphy. Running time: 2 hours, 6 minutes. Family guide: R. Much profanity, a severe beating, one nudity-free but steamy sex scene, some drug use and a brief glimpse of Eminem's bare bottom. It's basically a Rocky/Mighty Ducks movie set in the world of hip-hop, circa 1995, complete with some bad-guy competitors who dress all in black. Some Eminem fans in the preview audience I saw it with seemed to get restless. More rapping and less talking and moping and worrying might have kept them appeased. But the skimpiness of plot is not as big a problem as you might think. The details are that rich, the performances that good. Eminem plays Jimmy "Rabbit" Smith, Jr., who's trying to make his mark in the Detroit hip-hop scene, where his white skin marks him as an outsider ("This is hip-hop. You don't belong here," a competitor raps in a one-on-one hip-hop battle at a nightclub.) Jimmy's broke, crashing in the crummy mobile home of his mom (Basinger), whose newest boyfriend is a crude, sneering slob Jimmy's age. He is barely holding on to a dead-end job, but he's attracted the interest of the sexy Alex (Brittany Murphy), a would-be model in fishnet stockings. "You're gonna be great. I got a feeling about you," she says in one of the movie's surprisingly corny lines. Jimmy and his four-man crew (headed by Mekhi Phifer) plan on breaking out soon. But it'd be helpful if Jimmy's car would start, and if they'd ever get enough money and ambition to actually get serious -- instead of just talking about it. Their ticket out is Jimmy, who's supposed to be a rapping genius. Everyone keeps telling us what a genius he is, but 8 Mile makes a crucial mistake by not showing us that early. For much of the movie he doesn't cut loose, instead giving us a few short raps that are semi-inspired at best. But a successful Rocky-style movie has to come up with a good, inspiring Rocky-style ending. 8 Mile does just that: When Eminem's Jimmy gets his moment in the spotlight, he nails it -- and 8 Mile bursts out of its gloom and turns into something close to glorious.