Get Rich or Die Tryin'

Jim Sheridan has some hard-hitting social issue dramas set in his homeland of Ireland such as InThe Name Of The Father and The Boxer on his CV, so one can see why he might have been attracted to this story of a gangsta rapper, one that was  “inspired” by the real life of Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson who appears in the lead role. Unfortunately, he completely fails to make anything of interest out of his subject matter,.

To be fair Sheridan does address the social conditions that shape the lives of poor urban blacks but there is none of the broader social justice agenda that informs his best work to give the events meaning. Get Rich or Die Tryin' comes across as a not very interesting story about a lot of dumb-ass black dudes who have watched too many Mafiosa movies and/or an almost laughable vanity project for rap star Jackson complete with a sub-plot dealing with his relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Charlene (Joy Bryant). All this bumbles along to no point as we never find out how or why 50 Cent became a big noise in the rap scene, which one would have thought would be at least a significant part of the film, although given the rudimentary talent that he displays here perhaps there really wasn't that much to say. 

 

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