Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Herald rating: * *

Curtis Jackson never knew his father. His mother was a drug dealer who was killed when he was young. He was brought up by his grandparents until he turned to drug-dealing - it was the only career option in his part of town.

Curtis survived the dirty, deadly business, a gangland shooting and prison to become one of the best-selling recording artists of our time. And this is not fiction: this is the life story - so far - of the rapper better known as 50 Cent, as played by himself and told by Irish film-maker Jim Sheridan.

Like Eminem in 8 Mile, Jackson makes a pretty good fist of playing himself. Sheridan (In the Name of the Father, The Boxer) and the singer turn his story into the young man's search for his father.

The DVD's only extra is an excellent Making Of. The 30-minute feature follows the pair from New York to Dublin, where the movie was shot. Jackson points out the differences between his life and the movie version, and the pair reveal that Bono hooked them up for this unlikely collaboration.

Yep, something else we can blame on him.

* DVD, video rental today