Hustle & Flow

I really wanted to see Hustle & Flow since it's triumphant run at Sundance, where it took home all kinds of hardware (including the Audience Award). I figured if a movie about a pimp turned rapper could win over the predominately white, middle aged people at Sundance, then it would probably win me over as well. Craig Brewer's debut film about a pimp at a crossroads is a beautiful and subtle film, buoyed by a dynamite star making performance by Terrence Howard. If you just asked yourself who Terrence Howard is, don't worry, by the end of the year you will know exactly who he is. Hustle & Flow is a movie that seems so authentic, that I was surprised to find out Craig Brewer (the writer and director) was white. He is however from the area of Memphis where this film takes place, which accounts for the realism. Brewer's attention to detail and deeply written 3 dimensional character's along with Howard's star turn as Djay, are the main catalysts that raise Hustle & Flow above the standard fair of it's genre.

Terrence Howard's Djay may be the best performance, but it isn't the only good one. Taryn Manning, Elise Neal, and Paula Jai Parker are all spot on and believable as the women Djay makes his money off of. Djay is small time, getting by on these 3 women and selling some drugs on the side. One of the things that works so well is that Djay and the 3 girls in his stable are treated more like a dysfunctional family. This gives them so much added depth, as you can tell they really care for each other. Taryn Manning does especially good work as Nola, the only girl actually tricking. She is both strong and weak at the same time, a real tricky role that she handles with ease. Anthony Anderson and DJ Qualls also turn in solid performances as the guys brought in to help Djay record his rhymes. But it all comes back to Terrence Howard, who changes emotions on a dime, and gives a depth to Djay that no character in these kinds of movies have ever had. It is the first great performance I have seen this year, and hopefully it will be remembered come Oscar time. He is that good.

This movie is not without it's cliches though. It has a lot of the standard elements of these types of movies, including a character named Skinny Black played by Ludacris. He is a rapper who has hit it big from Memphis, and embodies every bad cliche a rapper can have. Ludacris does what he can with the role, but it just isn't as fleshed out or real feeling as the others. Hustle & Flow is not a perfect movie by any means, but it is probably about as good as a movie about a pimp turned rapper could be. The songs are good, but also believable as the songs of a novice rapper. Equally important is the fact that Terrence Howard is a good rapper, while not coming off too good. This is important for the realistic feel of the film. Howard actually had to learn to rap for the movie, he isn't a fan of rap music, preferring country instead. He may have to warm up to rap music as it may have just made him a star.