Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: November 9, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
45
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 33 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
23
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
A film with a rich and convincing texture, a drama with power and anger. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
This isn't Sheridan's most complex or richest picture, but there's lots of life to it: This is an unapologetically glossy pop product, powered by a strong, old-fashioned sense of B-movie melodrama. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Sheridan's ensemble ensures that "Get Rich," the film, comes to life around the edges, if not at its center. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
On most levels his performance is as flat as his abs: very early Wahlberg. Read full review
60
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Mildly engaging but very far from being for 50 Cent what "8 Mile" was for Eminem, this lurchingly structured story of survival against the odds looks to get off to a strong start thanks to the singer's large following. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
For all its biographical truth, Get Rich's journey into a ghetto of hustlers, gangstas and mindless violence is all too familiar. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Sheridan gives this a pacing and depth one doesn't often find in "urban" product, though Jackson, reliving his own life traumas, is handily upstaged at every turn by Terrence Howard (Crash) as his oddball manager. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Terrence Howard has stolen 50 Cent's thunder - and his lightning, and his storm clouds, too - twice in one year. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Neither powerful nor interesting. It is a run-of-the-mill movie ''product'' developed as part of a 50 Cent marketing plan. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
Parts of Get Rich Or Die Tryin' crackle with energy, vitality, and texture, like the prison-shower fight that descends into a weird sort of slapstick farce. But 50's leaden turn drags the film down. Scenes celebrating his personal and professional triumph ring hollow, since Rich never really gets under his skin. Read full review
50
The New York TimesDana Stevens
The parts of Get Rich or Die Tryin' that feel most genuine have to do with friendship and family, rather than with criminal intrigue. But the movie ultimately lacks an emotional core. It will certainly make 50 Cent even richer, but it wouldn't have killed him to try a bit harder. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
A motion picture with one foot in artistic expression and one in pulp fiction and commercialized violence. It wants the respect that goes with a quality production, but it can't resist providing the brutality and exploitation the film's core audience expects. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldPeter Debruge
Unlike this summer's compulsively watchable "Hustle & Flow," Get Rich or Die Tryin' captures none of the thrill of finding your voice, recording a demo or landing a concert. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
If, like me, you were hoping for "Scarface" as a hip-hopera, I am sad to report that Get Rich or Die Tryin' has heat, but not sweep. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Movie stardom is seductive, but 50 Cent and his fans will be best served if he sticks to to his day job. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Too much of the time, Jackson is a complete blank, like he's bored with his own story. Read full review
50
New York PostLou Lumenick
The erstwhile crack dealer born Curtis Jackson may be a prot‚g‚ of Eminem, but this shapeless and derivative gangsta saga is no "8 Mile." Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Fans of 50 Cent, whose own endlessly exploited past keeps him surrounded by Kevlar and bodyguards, will probably see the film for what it is -- a weak, watered roman à clef -- while admirers of Irish director Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In America) will marvel that he had anything to do with such a trite variation on the venerable "Star is Born" scenario. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
Marcus, like the real-life Jackson, survives being shot nine times. But this film is dead on arrival. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Hard-working to a fault, this is a movie that's all effort and no direction, a movie completely lacking in what its hero eventually finds -- a sense of identity. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverLuke Y. Thompson
50 Cent sounds articulate in his raps, but as a lead actor, he talks like his mouth is filled with food. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Missing a purpose. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
The film is shockingly light on music and heavy on crime scenes that play as bogus. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
This thinly autobiographical gangsta odyssey never achieves liftoff, and Jackson is unconvincing. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyJohn Patterson
Even more problematic is the script's clumsy, sprawling architecture, Sheridan's clubfooted sense of pacing and his grubby, indistinct visuals. The only upside? The Chieftains aren't on the soundtrack. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Broad across and rippling with muscle, 50 Cent mumbles his way through his hits. Read full review
40
Village VoiceLaura Sinagra
Unfortunately "My Left Foot's" Jim Sheridan, that reliable purveyor of Irish struggle-porn, anchors us in tedious exposition. Read full review
38
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
A gangsta rapper without fire in the belly isn't terribly interesting, cinematically or musically. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
I expected Get Rich or Die Tryin' to be gritty, scary, maybe disturbing or thought-provoking. What I didn't realize was that it would be so dull that any other effect it could have made was wiped away. Read full review
38
PremiereAaron Hillis
Unstylized, inconsistent, unconvincing, and familiar to a fault. Read full review
30
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Shockingly inert. Read full review
20
EmpireColin Kennedy
It's bad enough to ban on purely artistic grounds. Read full review
0
Seattle Post-IntelligencerBill White
A disaster on all levels. Read full review
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