For those who believe that rap and hip-hop promote death, drugs, violence, and abuse towards women – please take a close look at “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.”

“Die Tryin'” stars rapper Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson in a film based on his real life. (How much of his real life is debatable.) In “Die Tryin'” ’50 Cent’ plays a young man named Marcus who grows up in the ghettos of New York, and learns at a young age how to fend for himself.

When Marcus’ mother Katrina (Serena Reeder), who makes a living by selling drugs, is murdered by a fellow pusher, 12-year-old Marcus is forced to move in with his grandparents and several other of his relatives.

Young Marcus hates sharing a bed with two other people and is tired of getting laughed at for wearing old, busted sneakers that used to belong to his uncle, even though his mother used to deal so that she could afford to get Marcus and herself the finest clothing. The teenager’s desire for material possessions and constant obsession with being respected lead him into the hands of his mother’s former employer Majestic (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje).

Marcus’ hard work and take-no-crap-attitude quickly get him recognized as one of the neighborhood’s top pushers. Over time Marcus is able to gain enough money to buy a new pair of shoes and a gun. Something that Marcus himself states that he is not quite sure that he needs.

This is the moment where the movie changes direction and showcases Marcus as a more three-dimensional character. The film begins to showcase the problems, moral dilemmas and social ambiguities that surround the ‘gangsta’ life.’ Issues that are rarely mentioned in the ‘mob/gangster’ genre of cinema.

Marcus’ gun is found by his grandfather and the fight that follows so bothers the young man that he forgets to check his backpack before he heads to school. He is busted for possession and is taken into custody. This only leads to more arguing between his grandfather and himself and causes Marcus moves out of the house.

While on his own Marcus explains to the viewer that selling cocaine on the street is not as exciting as it might seem. It involves many hours and yes, very little pay. Marcus claims that selling coke on the street, when all the hours of work are factored in, is equivalent to making minimum wage. If an individual is arrested – even less.

Things change however, when crack is introduced to the neighborhood. Due to the demand for the drug, Marcus finds himself busy once again. It forces him to branch out and form his own crew, all the while under the watchful eye of Majestic.

Marcus loves his new life because it allows him to experience the things he’s always wanted – wealth and respect. The money is good and there seems to be more and more each day.

Because of this, it leads to violence between Marcus’ gang and that of a nearby Colombian gang. The clashes between the two groups destroy the neighborhood and the flimsy social structure that it sat atop. The area falls into anarchy and the two gangs lead an ongoing war that eventually leaves no one unscathed. For Marcus this means jail. For others it means life-changing injuries or even death.

While in solitary confinement Marcus reawakens his inner poet and his past dreams of becoming a rap star. Jail is also where he attempts to purge his soul of the memory of his mother and for the bad deeds that he has committed. Marcus eventually realizes that his past is his past and there is nothing he can do to change it. When he gets out of prison he focuses on his rap career, but eventually gets pulled back into the lifestyle he has desperately tried to leave behind.

“Get Rich or Die Tryin'” is not a groundbreaking film. It is filled with clichés and is, for the most part, predictable. What makes it engaging, however, is how the movie is structured.

Do not go to this film thinking that it is going to be about rap. This is a gangster film.

What makes it special is that it takes a look at the hip-hop culture in our country and presents it in neither a negative nor a positive light but rather as art. Art that is based off of human interactions and dashed dreams. This is not surprising coming from director Jim Sheridan, the 56-year-old Irishman who has created such gorgeous films as “In America,” “The Boxer,” and “My Left Foot.” Sheridan’s works usually focus the lives of downtrodden and forgotten Irishmen who reach their dreams’ via hard work, determination, and sometimes questionable means. Sheridan obviously relates to ’50 Cent’ in a way many of the rapper’s countrymen cannot. Sheridan understands that rap music is not going to lead to the degradation of society. People and only people can do that.

There is no one else who could have directed this film.

This is a film that knows art imitates life, not the other way around.