The film: Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson was adamant when he made this film (the plot of which is close to the events of his own life) that it wouldn't be one long music video, to accompany a collection of his hip-hop chart-topping repertoire. Perhaps so, but at some points that's what happens - most notably during a prison sequence, when inmates and guards lip-synch to a 50 Cent song, ostensibly to hammer home the success of the main character, Marcus (50 Cent), after a broken, crime-drenched start in life.

Directed by 57-year-old Jim Sheridan (In the Name of the Father, The Field, My Left Foot), this is no cliched, rags-to-riches tale. Nor is it misogynistic. The initial detachment from the drug dealing, pimping, whoring and shootings that form much of the backdrop is a plus.

Steering well clear of glorifying any of this, Sheridan weaves a realistic tale about a lonely child after his mother is killed - scrambling between selling cocaine on the streets and recording demos of his bedroom rap mixes. Throw in an on-off childhood love interest, violent retribution for the maiming of a friend (which lands him in jail) and threats when he leaves a drug gang to pursue rap, and the plot certainly holds interest.

The film isn't strictly based on 50 Cent's career. 'Get Rich ... is a collage of my life,' he said. 'It has incidents similar to some that happened.'

Given that it's his acting debut, 50 Cent's performance (right) is credible - big on sensitivity and lacking swagger. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost, The Bourne Identity) turns in a cracking portrayal of Majestic, a vindictive drug lord with a vested interest in seeing Marcus' music career fail.

The slick movement of this near two-hour production owes much to the direction by Sheridan (six times Oscar-nominated) and screenplay by Terence Winter (The Sopranos).

The extras: A making-of documentary examines the location challenges (not the least of them 50 Cent getting mobbed by fans), and includes interviews with his grandparents, and footage of a visit by the rapper to Ireland, where Sheridan introduces him to a few locals.

The verdict: Far from being a narcissistic near-biography of 50 Cent, this is a fairly sensitively handled tale of a man's determination to escape a life of crime and pursue his dream of rapping and having a family. But it's certainly not a must-see.