“Violence only begets more violence.” Such is the lesson learned on the gangland streets where families are killed for money and people’s lives are destroyed by drugs. 50 Cent attempts to legitimize his gangsta-rapper persona in his new semi-autobiographical film, “Get Rich or Die Tryin.'”

Marcus, the theatrical face of 50 Cent, goes from impoverished schoolboy to ruthless drug dealer right before our eyes in this loose adaptation of 50’s life. After his mother is killed by Majestic, a drug kingpin, Marcus hits the streets hard to make money and hopefully one day nail down a record contract. When he gets caught with drugs (for the 15th time), he goes to prison and meets his future manager, Bama, played by Terrence Howard, and begins a musical career, much to chagrin of Majestic.

The most common comparison made to this movie is Eminem’s “8 Mile”; however, any similarity ends after the stories’ real-life-rapper origins. While “8 Mile” was all about a white kid trying to sneak into the hip-hop scene by reminding everyone how tough he is, “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” has a much more narrative structure and deals with sacrifice of the ego rather than its empowerment.

It is slightly cheesy to say the movie makes 50 Cent “seem more human,” yet it brings to light a more fragile side to the seemingly indestructible rapper. After being shot nine times out of retribution for robbing a group of Cubans, 50 Cent attempts to show his physical and emotional struggles involved in the healing process. And, much unlike “8 Mile,” he swallows his pride and sacrifices the life he once lived for his girlfriend and baby boy.

“Get Rich or Die Tryin'” rises above critics’ and fans’ expectations, although many of those expectations were quite low.

There are still many problems with this film. 50 Cent, who was a real-life drug dealer before he became famous, is undoubtedly glamorized in this movie. His stints in prison are short and he manages not to kill anyone in this movie – most likely a sugarcoated portrayal of his real life.

The ending was also hurried in the sense that five minutes recording in a closet and a jog down a frozen boardwalk cured all of his life’s troubles. Almost as soon as he begins to confront the death of his mother, the movie ends abruptly as he walks onstage and begins to rap. It almost seems like the film’s creators were depending on his real, public life to fill any gaps the movie may have overlooked.

Despite these problems, the film as a whole is respectable and moderately well-acted. For a seemingly all-gangster, sex-and-drugs rapper, 50’s diversity as an actor was surprising. He shows a wide spectrum of emotion reasonably well for a debut performance, even though he had about as many lines as Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator.”

Don’t get it wrong, though; a lot of the film is thugs beating their chests, trying to force their dominance on others, but that’s not all it’s about.