Don’t Forget: “Get Rich Or Die Tryin’,” Jim Sheridan’s First Dance With Hollywood
Seven-and-a-half years ago, Jim Sheridan was one of the most respected directors in the world. He had just notched his sixth Academy Award nomination with his script for "In America," his deeply personal film about Irish immigrants that he co-wrote with his two daughters. He'd had a nearly unprecedented run of success, starting with 1989's "My Left Foot," through "The Boxer," "The Field" and "In the Name of the Father." He was at the peak of his powers. The sky was the limit. Then he met 50 Cent.
We've certainly had our fair share of fun with Curtis Jackson's quixotic acting career, but in 2004, 50 Cent was no joke. One of the best-selling recording artists in the world, and a global brand all by himself, the one thing he wanted to do -- with an intensity, apparently, that no one understood at the time -- was to be an actor. This was in the wake of Eminem's success with "8 Mile;" Jackson wanted a part of that. But one of the main reasons "8 Mile" worked was its director, "L.A. Confidential"'s Curtis Hanson, who found a way to combine the grittier aspects of Eminem's tale with a traditionally uplifting, crowd-pleasing story arc. Jackson and his advisors wanted a smart director like Hanson. They chose Sheridan, who had been looking to find a way to bring his style to the Hollywood system. How did these people meet each other? The same way all global icons meet each other: Through Bono.
It came about because Bono brought me to a part at Jimmy Ivy's house and Jimmy asked me to do the movie. I had been tied into doing a lot of American films in the last 10 years and I just heard the story of Fifty Cent and said okay I'll do it. Cause I knew I couldn't change the end: he'd be shot and he'd come back and would be a star. So therefore I knew, when there is something I have to stick with, some reality. It reminded me of a play I did when I was younger about a guy who was an arsonist who burnt buildings. it turned out he didn't, was innocent and we did a play about him going to jail. So it was the same kind of world I grew up in, that of Poverty and drugs.
Yeah, maybe that's it, though Sheridan mixed the story up later:
We will confess: We find it unlikely that Bono learned about rap from Jim Sheridan. Sorry: "The" rap.
Anyway, because of Hanson's work with Eminem, Sheridan was convinced he could make an actor of Jackson. Suffice it to say, he could not. From a sampling of "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" reviews:
*** "Turns out Eminem is a better faux-gangsta than 50 Cent. Now run along and bust yo dope rhymes at a Bat Mitvah before heading back to your 18-bedroom mansion in Farmington, CT. You're so street, Curtis."
*** "Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson is utterly lacking in charisma ... His complete lack of presence is deadening to the film because he's in almost every scene."
*** "Jackson has the advantage of essentially playing himself, but he is consistently unable to rise to the challenge."
*** "Don't for a second think that we're meeting the next great rap star to become a movie star."
*** "The charismatic rapper is so utterly inexpressive as an actor that he's constantly getting swallowed up in his own movie."
As you may have noticed, Jackson hasn't gotten much better. Sheridan clearly hitched his buggy to the wrong horse. It would be four years until Sheridan would make another movie, the mostly ignored "Brothers" in 2009. This weekend he's out with "Dream House," another Hollywood project with such bad buzz that it's not even being shown for critics. A Jim Sheridan movie being hidden from critics? The Jim Sheridan? The Curtis Jackson-Jim Sheridan collaboration remains one of the more inexplicable and destructive pairings in recent Hollywood history. Sheridan has never been the same, and we're all the poorer for it. Is it too late for Daniel Day-Lewis to save him?
