Every once in a while, I see a movie and I don't have any strong feelings about it. It's not terrible. It's not great. But more importantly, it doesn't leave me with an impression, either good or bad. That's how I felt at the end of Get Rich or Die Tryin'.

Any fan of hip-hop knows 50 Cents story. He's legendary for being shot nine times and living to tell. The film is a fictional account of 50's life. We aren't talking about Curtis Jackson known as 50 Cent; we're talking about Marcus (Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson and Marc John Jefferies as a child) known by the rap name Young Caesar. The film begins appropriately, with the now notorious shooting. It then goes back to the beginning. Marcus's mother (Serena Reeder) was a drug dealer who died a violent death. Afterwards, he was raised by his maternal grandparents (Viola Davis and Sullivan Walker). But little Marcus liked nice things and he started selling drugs to get them. He moved up in the drug game with the help of his crew and under the tutelage of the brutal Mr. Majestic (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who worked for the big kingpin Levar (Bill Duke).

While Hustle and Flow showed us how hard things are for pimps, Get Rich makes the same judgment about drug dealers. Marcus, at first, lives at home with his grandparents and then moves into his own shabby apartment. He has to work his a** off to afford the Mercedes he eventually buys. Along the way, he reunites with his childhood best friend Charlene (Joy Bryant) and the two develop a relationship. He also gets sent to prison where he meets up with Bama (Terrence Howard), a fellow hustler who recognizes Marcus's rap talent and offers to manage him.

50 Cent was credible playing a version of himself but he's just way too laid back for me. He lacked intensity for most of the movie. Terrance Howard, on the other hand, stood out in all of his scenes, as did Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Ladies, make sure to pay particular attention to Mr. Howard in the pivotal 'naked shower fight' scene. You might be pleasantly surprised.

I wanted to see more of Marcus's progression as a rapper in Get Rich; instead it focuses on his violent, drug-dealing days. There are lots of turf wars punctuated by lots of shoot-outs. His interest in rap was always there; as evidenced by a sexually-explicit rhyme young Marcus he makes for Charlene. It shocks her parents so much they send her out of the city to live with her grandparents. But the movie doesn't really delve into his creative process. As a result, I never really felt the passion that Marcus should have had for his music.

I guess that is ultimately the problem I had with Get Rich or Die Tryin. It just didn't have heart. It connected all the dots but it didn't have the emotion and the passion to make me really connect with it. Without that passion, this is yet another gangsta/hustla movie.