No. 7 - 8 Mile (2002) 14 of 100

 

Shannon gets perhaps his finest entrance to a film appearance in this outing, where we first meet him boffing Kim Basinger. Nice work if you can get it.

Michael plays Greg, a sleazy contemporary of the film’s hero Eminem, who is having it off with the rapper’s mother in her trailer park home. At the time of filming Shannon was two years younger than Eminem and 21 years younger than the lovely Kim, who is somewhat miscast as the trailer trash bingo addict.

You’ll probably be familiar with the film which follows the grim existence of Jimmy ‘Rabbit’ Smith Jnr. Who ekes out a depressing existence in Detroit in 1995. He lives in a grotty trailer with Kim and his young sister Lily who looks a bit too stage school to convince in her part.

Jimmy holds a job at a car parts factory but hopes to become a rapper and escape his situation. He has a small crew who bitch and shout at other crews and with whom they engage in rap battles where they basically slag off each other’s mommas. The film opens with Jimmy choking during a rap battle much to the disdain of the crowd. The rest of the film is him getting ready for the next big show where a good performance may get him a contract or some studio time.

His day is brightened up when new colleague Brittany Murphy shows up and gives him a good time in the warehouse. He takes a shine to her but unsurprisingly she turns out to be a big slag when he catches her pumping someone else.

Meanwhile back at the trailer Jimmy and Greg lock horns and Kim gets an eviction notice. It’s like all the segments of a Jerry Springer show all at once. Shannon is due an insurance pay-out and Kim worries that he’ll be off as soon as it lands – Spoiler: He does.

The film is deliberately desperate and gritty but that doesn’t make for an enjoyable viewing experience. Virtually every scene has people shouting at each other and trading insults and it all gets a bit wearing. Shannon, in an early role, is underused and his character is thinly drawn. He’s OK with the limited material but really only gets two scenes, one of which is him getting his ass handed to him by our hero.

Due to it’s popularity, this film was probably most people’s FIRST memory of Shannon appearing on screen and it’s a shame he’s a one dimensional boo hiss villain whose only job is to make Kim’s dreary existence that bit more miserable.

On the whole the film is decent if you like rap and urban grime, but I enjoyed it less than I remembered with ‘Lose Yourself’ the only decent track on it – the rest are all just name calling and yelling. Eminem is good playing a version of himself and the rest, including Shannon, are just supporting players for his performance.

When is Shannon-On? - 10:33

Outcome? Away spending his insurance settlement

Film 3/5

Shannon Stars 2/5