Get Rich or Die Tryin'

GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN' — * 1/2 — Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Joy Bryant; rated R (violence, profanity, drugs, sex, nudity); Carmike 12 and Ritz 15 theaters; Century theatres 16; Cinemark 24 at Jordan Landing; CinemaStar 5-Star and Gateway 8 Cinemas; Megaplex 12 at the Gateway; Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons.

As Eminem's protege, 50 Cent got the entree to rap superstardom and all the automatic wealth, fame and credit that go along with it.

But apparently he didn't get any acting lessons.

And so "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," the film debut from 50 Cent (real name: Curtis Jackson), plays like a feeble retread of Eminem's film debut "8 Mile" — not just because it's arriving in theaters only three years later and it's so similarly semifictional, which it is. Mainly, "Get Rich" proves once again, as in "Glitter," that standing in front of a camera and portraying a thinly veiled version of yourself is harder than it sounds.

Eminem pulled it off — even though "8 Mile" was essentially a rap version of "The Karate Kid" — because he had an inescapable charisma, an intensity about him and an innate ability to connect with his audience in a way that was evident even from his earliest music videos. 50, though, has always had a much more low-key vibe, which on the big screen renders him nearly inert.

Theoretically, having the benefit of working under a director as experienced as Jim Sheridan ("My Left Foot," "In the Name of the Father") should bring out the best in him. Sheridan does evocatively convey the squalor of the South Bronx from the late 1970s until now, and visually "Get Rich" is reminiscent of Sheridan's stirring "In America," another story of struggle in New York. (Cinematographer Declan Quinn and production designer Mark Geraghty are responsible for the gritty details and the natural, sometimes unforgiving lighting in both.)

But 50's character, Marcus, should be the driving force in the midst of all the poverty and drug deals and drive-by shootings that eventually serve as fodder for his music; instead, he feels like a passenger in his own story. He has the same look on his face nearly the entire time — a sort of halfhearted smile with his eyes slightly squinted — and he delivers the film's many voiceovers in the same monotone as his real-life hits like "In Da Club" (which did have an insanely catchy beat).

So when he says, "I had it all but still, something was missing," we'll just have to take his word for it.