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Life & Lyrics aspires to edgy urban drama, but the beats are as predictable as the hip-hop rhythm thumping in the background. Ashley Walters stars as DJ Danny 'D-Biz', a graduate of the school of hard knocks, tackling street thugs and personal demons in a quest to win a rapping contest with his crew. The story runs a similar course to Eminem vehicle 8 Mile, but debuting director Richard Laxton is on autopilot, hitting all the stops without emotion.

A charismatic lead might have elevated this drama, but even though Walters (Bullet Boy) is likeable as Danny, he doesn't measure up to the sullenly bewitching screen presence of Eminem. In one of countless clichés, he falls for an uptown girl (Louise Rose) and indulges in a lot of angst about whether they really belong together. That would be fine except that screenwriter Ken Williams draws their relationship in superficial strokes. He does the same for Danny's brotherly bond with Fable (Chris Steward) who provides the lyrics to his tracks.

"OVER THE TOP"

The boys' rivalry with sleazy music producer Money Man (Patrick Regis) feels trivial no matter how much violence Williams brings to it. A final escalation into gunplay manages to go over the top and fall completely flat. Likewise a subplot where Fable attempts to reconcile with the mother who abandoned him is totally counterfeit. It's just another lazy shortcut, paved with artificial sentiment, leading to a dramatic dead-end. Only the rap battle scenes have any spark of life and originality to them, the rest is just noise.