Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005 film)
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| Get Rich or Die Tryin' | |
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| Directed by | Jim Sheridan |
| Produced by | Daniel Lupi, Heather Perry, Paul Rosenberg, Jim Sheridan |
| Written by | Terence Winter |
| Starring | Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Terrence Howard, Joy Bryant, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Serena Reeder, Bill Duke |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Release date(s) | November 9, 2005 |
| Running time | 112 minutes |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $40,000,000 USD |
| IMDb profile | |
Get Rich or Die Tryin' is a motion picture starring Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as Marcus, a drug dealer aspiring to be a rapper. It is a semi-autobiographical film, much like Eminem's 8 Mile. It was released on November 9, 2005. It was originally named Locked & Loaded, but the title was changed by 50 Cent to the same title as his debut album from 2003. A soundtrack to the film was also released.
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[edit] Plot
The beginning of the film shows Marcus, Bama (his future manager (Terrance Howard), and two associates robbing a store that is a front for a money laundering operation. After they leave, Marcus is assaulted by a man in a black bandana, covering his face.
The next scene shows Marcus as a child, driving with his mother down the street, talking about how he was constantly looking for his father, whom he did not know, and showing his close relationship with his mother, who left Marcus with his grandmother to sell various forms of drugs on the street. This scene also shows that Marcus knew his mother sold drugs, but he felt that it was only for his benefit. Later, it is shown that Marcus's mother was murdered, then her body burned along with the rest of the house.
Marcus goes off to live with his grandparents, and is taunted by the other children in the home. After a fight with another child, Marcus's grandfather moves a mattress down to the laundry room to give him his own room, away from the other children.
Not long after, Marcus says it's "time to join the family business", and begins to push drugs on a corner like his mother. During a fight with two other dealers who say that he is pushing on their turf, he is taken away by Majestic, a drug dealer who protected Marcus's mother during a fight when Marcus was a child.
He buys a .357 gun from a man in an alleyway later, saying he didn't know what he wanted a gun for, but he got one anyway. While holding the gun to a mirror, Marcus is portrayed going from his childhood, to his young teenage years.
He begins pushing drugs more often, and his gun is eventually found by his grandfather resulting in Marcus leaving the home. However, the police find packets of cocaine hidden in Marcus's socks and arrest him. This leads to a fight between Marcus and his grandfather, after which Marcus leaves his grandparents' home.
Marcus buys an apartment after running away from home, and, after giving up on his rapping dream in three hours (showing him beginning with a song he dubbed "Gotta Get Outta Hell", which was most likely based off the 50 Cent song "Gotta Make It to Heaven"), begins to push drugs again. Majestic then holds a meeting between the local drug pushers in the gang Marcus's mother was in, which is run by a man named Levar, where Majestic makes cocaine in crack form, and lays down a few rules, one of the most important being "Rule number 5; Show no love. Love will get you killed." It's also shown by now that these drug dealers, all of them African American are in a turf war with the Colombians. Many are slain on both sides, leading Levar to shake hands with the Colombian head after all the escalation led to a Korean liquor store owner shooting two innocent young African-American teens.
Shortly after, Marcus forms a 'crew' with a childhood friend named Antwan, a man named Justice he helped in a drug turf fight with the Colombians, and another man named Keryl. At this time too, he rekindles his romance with his childhood friend Charlene, her having been sent somewhere else when her parents find a mix-tape from Marcus, where he dubs himself as Young Caesar (His rapping alias for the time, and in the future) which strongly suggests they have some kind of sexual relationship, despite Marcus commenting he didn't know what the things he said meant when Charlene and Marcus had been together.
One night while at a club, Marcus is shot at by the Colombians and Antwan is hit, leaving him a paraplegic. In further retaliation, Marcus shoots the Colombian who crippled Antwan, and is about to execute him, but ends up shooting him in the leg after the man cries out for his father, which incidentally reminded Marcus of his own search for his father (Which may be misunderstood as 'mommy' when he says 'Pappy' in an accent), forcing him to feel slight sympathy for the Colombian. The plot eventually leads to Marcus being arrested for the shooting, with cocaine being found in his apartment. This is odd because one of Majestic's rules was not to leave the product at home. Marcus is sent to a penitentiary, where he meets his future manager and friend, Bama, who saves him from a knifing in the shower which was organized by the Colombian Marcus almost killed earlier in the movie. Charlene visits him during this time and reveals she is pregnant with Marcus's child.
During this time, Levar is sent to prison for the hit Marcus made, leaving a political associate in charge. Majestic has the new leader killed after having his right hand man shoot a police officer, and framing the man for this. Majestic then elevates himself to gang leader.
After leaving jail with Bama, Marcus informs Majestic he wanted out of the game, to pursue his rap career because he is going to be a father and needs to be responsible. Bama and Justice don't get along due to Bama's relationship to Marcus, and you can see Justice is somewhat jealous, leading to him reporting to Majestic about Marcus's activities. Marcus at this time is producing many hits, but Majestic, being enraged by Marcus's walking away from drug pushing, has all of the producers in town turn Marcus down for a contract. Also, after Marcus's child is born, Majestic visits Charlene in the maternity ward, picking up the recently born Antwan, and tells here it is in everyone's best interest that Marcus' should not continue with his career. Marcus becomes enraged when he learns about this, and starts giving 24 hour protection to Charlene and Anwan.
After Marcus is unable to find a contract, his crew (at this time Marcus, Bama, Justice, and Keryl) ends up robbing a store run by the Colombian head, and the story leads back to the beginning of the movie. Right before he's about to be shot, the shooter takes off his mask, revealing himself to be Justice, who had followed Marcus alone after Bama and Keryl left in a separate car. As Marcus is shot, his grandmother screams out his name, the final bullet meant for his head shattering his jaw instead.
After a long and painful recovery by Marcus, he begins his rapping dream again. He becomes successful, once again, and this time begins solo rapping instead of working for a signing contract. After a while, he becomes even more famous, and plans to do a live concert at Pelham Hall. Justice arrives at Majesctic's hideout only to find out Marcus was still alive even after shooting him nine times. Majestic in rage stabs him vigorously with his sword in an executionary style.
Before the concert Marcus goes to Levar, who was imprisoned, to ask about his mother's death. Levar confessed that he and Katrina were in a relationship and Majestic had grown very jealous of him since then.
During this time, we see Marcus being a loving father to his son. Before his concert, he drops off little Antwan and Charlene at his mother's house, leaving big Antwan with a sub-machine gun. His aunt, remembering his near fatal shooting, warns Marcus that if he goes out there tonight, he endangers not only himself, but his child and Charlene. Marcus tells her he has to go out there for that very reason.
On the night of the concert, people are outside in the streets protesting the crack cocaine pandemic at this time. Marcus and Majestic also meet face to face at this time. Majestic offers Marcus to be respectful to Majestic, and after Marcus declines, Majestic tells Marcus before his mother died he raped her then killed her, and the two begin to fight.
At the end, Marcus leaves to start the show, after nearly throttling Majestic, leaving him on the ground. Majestic rises from the floor and pulls out a sword, and is shot in the arm by Bama, falling to the ground and begging Marcus to be the one to kill him. But, as Marcus walks away and down the hall, Bama shoots Majestic three more times, in the head, killing him.
Marcus approaches a mirror, and has a revelation on his life, saying "All my life, I had been looking for my father. I realized, I had been looking for myself." And then continuing to say "It felt like I was walking away from the old me, and the new me was being born.", representing his change from cold-blooded murderer, robber, and 'gangster', to a responsible father, adult, and now rapper, his rivalry and former drug situations resolved with the death of Majestic, and revolt by the population of the area to crack cocaine, among other drugs. He ends up going out to perform the concert, performing the song Hustler's Ambition, which summarizes most of his life, talking about his time in jail, the fighting between drug runners in the city, his drug pushing, and other things from the movie, the story ending with him finishing off the song Hustler's Ambition.
[edit] Characters
Marcus: The character the movie is centered around, a boy who is abandoned by his mother constantly, and eventually orphaned and, in his young teen years, becomes a drug dealer. A good way through the movie, he becomes a successful rapper, though having had dreams of it since childhood.
Majestic: A major drug dealer working for Levar Cahill. He is one of the most likely suspects to have been Marcus's father, due to his close relationship with Marcus's mother, Katrina. It is also revealed near the end of the movie, that Majestic was Katrina's murderer.
Levar Cahill The biggest drug kingpin in the city. He runs the black drug-trade in most of the city, with many 'Crews' of drug dealers branching off from his.
Dangerous The rapper Majestic is managing. Marcus idolizes him, wanting to have the same successful rap career that Dangerous has. Eventually, Marcus begins to make songs that diss Dangerous, since he is now angry at Majestic. This exposes the fact that he is not as gangster as Marcus is. Dangerous seems to be a representation of two of 50 cent's real life enemies, Ja Rule and Benzino. In one scene, Marcus calls out Dangerous as being a Jehovah's Witness, something 50 has said about Ja Rule in real life. Also, Benzino and Dangerous seem to have many physical similarities.
[edit] Cast Interviews
[edit] Controversy
On October 27, 2005, movie posters for the film featuring 50 Cent with a handgun in one hand and a mic in the other were removed from billboards in Los Angeles school areas after complaints that they promote gun violence and gang activity. 50 Cent later responded that the controversy only further increased the publicity for his film. The two objects in the controversial poster were intended as symbols to represent the transition of the main character from drug dealer to successful rapper.
Controversy was further created when a 30-year-old man, Sheldon Flowers, was shot three times and killed in a cinema near Pittsburgh on November 9, 2005, after watching the film. The cinema stopped showing the film as a result. Also, a cinema chain in Toledo, Ohio, stopped after-midnight screenings of the film because of fears the violence depicted may prompt further civil unrest as seen during the 2005 Toledo Riot.
Samuel L. Jackson publicly turned down an offer to co-star in the film, citing that he did not want to lend credence to what he believed was an inexperienced and unproven actor.[1] Film critic Roger Ebert wrote of Jackson's decision: "Like Bill Cosby, Jackson is arguing against the anti-intellectual message that success for young black males is better sought in the worlds of rap and sports than in the classroom".[2] Jackson reportedly still thinks that rappers should not be in films, but has spoken with 50 Cent several times about it and has made amends with him.[3] Both actors will co-star in the 2006 film Home of the Brave, the first feature film about the current Iraq war.
[edit] Critical reaction
The critical opinion of Get Rich or Die Tryin' has been mixed but the vast majority have leaned towards negative reviews. While a few top critics like Ebert & Roeper gave the movie "two thumbs up" with a positive review, many other reviewers considered Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson's acting debut less than impressive and the "rising to fame" plot of the film too familiar and boring.
It was one of the lowest-rated films on the Internet Movie Database. It has a rating of 3.2 out of 10 as of October 2006. At Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of "Rotten", with only 17% of the posted reviews being positive.
The film was expected to be buoyed by the popularity of its star, but due to negative press and general disinterest, audiences did not turn out for it, and it was ultimately a box office bomb. In terms of domestic gross, it earned $30,984,537 against a $40 million budget, but it earned an additional $15,367,487 in foreign receipts. Nonetheless, it fell out of the Top 10 list of highest-grossing films after three weeks in release, and it was withdrawn from most theatres shortly thereafter.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ FemaleFirst. PROUD JACKSON TURNS DOWN 50 CENT FILM ROLE. Retrieved on August 20, 2006.
- ^ RogerEbert.com. Coach Carter (PG-13). Retrieved on August 20, 2006.
- ^ SoundSlam.com. 50 Cent Challenges Samuel L. Jackson's Stance On Acting. Retrieved on November 30, 2006.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Trailer
- 50 Cent Get Rich Or Die Tryin' interview on ilikemusic.com
- Get Rich or Die Tryin' at the Internet Movie Database
