LITTLE PAYOFF IN 'GET RICH,' RAPPER 50 CENT'S LIFE STORY.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic

WHEN IS THE presence of a great actor actually a bad thing for your movie - even if that actor is the only good thing about your movie?

That's the question you're left mulling over as you leave Jim Sheridan's decidedly deficient ``Get Rich or Die Tryin','' which is supposed to be a star vehicle for rapper 50 Cent but does precious little to make a case for the rapper's musical talents. (The less said about his acting, the better.)

The film also stars the magnetic Terrence Howard, an actor who played an aspiring rapper in this year's entertaining, gotta-sing, gotta-dance movie ``Hustle & Flow.'' That Howard came off as a more convincing - not to mention skilled - rapper in ``Hustle & Flow'' than 50 Cent does here is among the biggest failings of ``Get Rich.'' You expect a pro to be a better actor than a singer. But when an actor is a better singer than a singer? That's a problem.

And the blame really lies with Sheridan, making his first movie that doesn't involve the Irish, and screenwriter Terrence Winter (``The Sopranos''), who have somehow taken the amazing, true story of 50 Cent and turned it into a contrived gangsta melodrama that doesn't feel the least bit real. The movie not only suffers in comparison to ``Hustle & Flow,'' but also to Curtis Hanson's vivid ``8 Mile,'' which served as a potent introduction to Eminem and gave even the uninitiated an opportunity to lose themselves in the music.

In this fictionalized version of his life story, Curtis ``50 Cent'' Jackson plays Marcus, a hustling would-be rapper who spends most of his time parlaying his charisma and strong organizational skills into a lucrative career as a drug dealer. Flashbacks show us Marcus' childhood, where the young man (Marc John Jefferies) copes with his coke-dealing mom (Serena Reeder), who clearly isn't long for this world.

Marcus, though, follows his mama's footsteps into the family business, and the majority of ``Get Rich or Die Tryin' '' is spent laying out the day-to-day mechanics of drug dealing and fleshing out the rivalries among Marcus' cronies. Elements of ``The Godfather'' (Bill Duke all but stuffs cotton in his cheeks, playing the movie's rasping, whispering drug kingpin) and ``New Jack City'' abound, and there's tacked-on romance, too, with Marcus hooking up with his childhood sweetheart (Joy Bryant).

But the filmmakers never convince us that Marcus is really interested in music, much less talented, and they certainly don't make a case for why the intelligent, nice girl Joy would stay with an unrepentant gangsta drug dealer. The movie is saved by the third-act reappearance of Howard (who is seen in the film's opening scene), playing a hair-trigger buddy who installs himself as Marcus' manager. His arrival is more explosive than all those fireworks Sheridan has become so fond of inserting into his movies.

And, in case you're wondering: 50 Cent performs only once, over the closing credits. Here's betting most people won't ever see it.

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN' - Two stars

(R: strong violence, pervasive language, drug content, sexuality, nudity)

Starring: Curtis ``50 Cent'' Jackson, Terrence Howard, Joy Bryant.

Director: Jim Sheridan.

Running time: 1 hr. 52 min.

Playing: In wide release.

In a nutshell: 50 Cent's big-screen vehicle doesn't make much of a case for the rapper's music and turns elements of his true-life story into a contrived gangsta melodrama.

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The remarkable life of rapper 50 Cent becomes a contrived, fictionalized gangsta melodrama in ``Get Rich or Die Tryin'.''