Get Rich or Die Tryin'

I don’t know how much of the movie is true aside from 50 Cent dealing drugs and getting shot a bunch of times, but this was an interesting story to watch nonetheless.

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ opens with Marcus (50 Cent) and his small crew robbing a rival gang of Columbians, which is progressing smoothly until one of his buddies, Bama (Terrence Howard), shoots a guy in the leg and then gets all emotional and weepy over Marcus’ holier-than-thou disapproval. After narrowly escaping the scene, Marcus heads home to his grandparents’ house in order to be on time for supper, when he is suddenly ambushed and shot nine times—one of them being through the mouth. As he lies in the middle of the street, life slowing draining from him, he flashes back to his childhood and his life up to this point, which is what comprises the basic plot for the movie. So, off we go to Marcus’ childhood, where he laments the fact that he has no idea who his father is while he sings along to 80’s music with his mother, Katrina (Serena Reeder). He knows only two facts about his father: one, that he certainly isn’t a white dude; and, two, that he definitely isn’t a cop. His mother often drops him off at his grandparents’ house, where he must contend with eight other children as Katrina goes out to make a lucrative living as a drug dealer. Unfortunately, this lifestyle leads to her murder, potentially at the hands of a Rick James look-a-like, and 10 year-old Marcus decides to pick up where she left off so that he can afford the very best shoes. Despite the fact that his dream has always been to become a rapper, Marcus instead grows up dealing cocaine for Majestic (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), the same boss for whom his mother worked as well. He proves himself to be extremely competent at selling the cocaine without being tempted to use it, so he is given charge of his own crew of three dealers, with whom he works and parties. He wins the approval of both Majestic and the drug kingpin himself, Levar Cahill (Bill Duke), who praise his managerial skills and strong work ethic... at selling drugs. Life is good to Marcus, and it only gets better when he reconnects with his long-lost childhood friend, Charlene (Joy Bryant). He is excited to discover that there are still sparks between the two of them, because despite the fact that Marcus is a gangster, Charlene knows he’s a really good person deep down and just turns a blind eye to his drug dealing and whatnot.

Unfortunately, his gangster ways catch up with Marcus, and he is sent to jail, where he realizes he must express himself through music or die in the harsh prison environment. Since he has always dreamt of being a rapper, prison merely serves as some kind of inspiration to leave the violent gangster world behind, so he uses his former career as material for his songs. Majestic doesn’t quite see the humor in Marcus exposing the drug world in order to work out his issues, so when Marcus is finally released, he finds that he has to watch his back. Which he obviously doesn’t do.

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ was a very compelling semi-biographical story, and I really enjoyed watching it. There were obviously some embellishments, and sure, Marcus was depicted as a decent and ethical drug dealer who shoots people from time to time, but only when they really deserve it, and he doesn’t want to actually kill them; but whatever, it was a fun movie.