Review

50 Cent can't bring his life story to life Randy MyersKnight Ridder Published: Wednesday, November 9, 2005

Rapper 50 Cent's so-called life is nickeled and dimed to death by Hollywood aspirations in the bloody, half-baked ``Get Rich or Die Tryin'.''Rather than being raw and vital like the best of hip-hop, ``Get Rich'' comes across as manipulated, packaged and tailored to the filmmakers' needs. Screenwriter Terence Winter (HBO's ``The Sopranos'') and director Jim Sheridan (``My Left Foot,'' ``In America'') take a clinical approach to the pre-stardom, gangster life of their star, whose 2003 debut album sold more than eight million copies in the United States.What they do is transform the popular 50 Cent, who was shot nine times in front of his grandmother's house, into a hero of Greek or Roman proportions.But while making Curtis ``50 Cent'' Jackson's young life into an ``Odyssey''-style journey rife with family drama, romance, tragedy, betrayals -- and one man's search for not only his father but the slayer of his mother -- the filmmakers forgot to breathe life into their main character.As a result, ``Get Rich'' seems stagy and phony. What a missed opportunity, because the rapper's compelling story offers ample opportunity for drama.The incomplete attention given the film's many subplots hints at severe editing. Such is the case with the lackluster romance between Marcus and Charlene (Joy Bryant of ``Antwone Fisher'').50 Cent doesn't help. Unlike Eminem (``8 Mile'') or Ludacris (``Hustle & Flow,'' ``Crash''), he simply doesn't have the natural acting talent to make us care. Sure, the hard-core rapper sheds a tear convincingly, but much of the time he's just scowling or smiling.Faring much better are Terrence Howard as a prisoner who saves Marcus during a stabbing in the showers and later becomes his record producer, and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as the menacing Majestic, a family friend who wants to be king of the drug world.To his credit, Sheridan brings a razor-sharp accuracy to some scenes, from the trash-strewed streets where Marcus' mom deals drugs to the crowded and rowdy dinner table at his grandparents' home. But ``Get Rich'' fails because it never shows us what makes Marcus/50 Cent tick. We rarely even see him recording music or writing lyrics. ``Get Rich'' concerns itself more with spilled blood than the story it should be telling. `Get Rich or Die Tryin' '