Hustle & Flow (2005)

Good concept, poorly executed.

Fantastic!

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

DJay,played by Terrence Howard, is a pimp and drug dealer who is dissatisfied with his life and wants to make a change in Hustle And Flow.After acquiring a keyboard and reacquainting himself with an old friend from school,Key, played by Anthony Anderson,who has become a sound technician. Then,he decides to try making hip hop songs. Key and sound-mixer friend,Shelby,played by DJ Qualls coordinates with DJay put together several songs. The group experiences many setbacks throughout the creative process. DJay must hustle those around him in order to procure proper equipment and recording time, and Key's relationship with his wife becomes strained. At the end of the film, in a bit of irony, sees a duo of prison guards who have their own rap group asking DJay to listen to their demo, much as DJay had approached Skinny Black. After the guards request him to listen to the demo, he accepts their tape and responds with the following: "You know what they say, everybody gotta have a dream," which was the slogan for the film.Hustle And Flow was a great independent drama film.Terrence Howard was exceptional as DJay.The screenplay by Craig Brewer was also great in trying to tell a story of a man who sought change in his life.His direction by was crisp as well. Highly recommended for viewers who seek themes about the welfare of disenfranchised people particularly African- Americans. Highly recommended indeed.

Craig Brewer's 'Hustle & Flow' is one of the finest independent films to come out in Hollywood. A films that shows reality in its truest form. A story about a pimp aspiring to become a rapper. The idea is fantastic if first of all, and the execution is just a cherry on the cake. Agreed the film ends up sad, but it leaves you satisfied and energetic. 'Hustle & Flow' rocks.Performances: Terrence Howard is fantastic, the soul of the film. He's astonishing in every frame he appears in, and is easily one of the best performances of this decade. Anthony Anderson is as usual, excellent. Taraji P.Henson delivers an earnest performance. Taryn Manning is a revelation. She's superb. Others are decent.on the whole 'Hustle & Flow' is a brave and reverting film. I love this film, and I recommend each and every cinema this film. Two Thumbs Up!

Is Hustle and Flow about dreams? Most definitely. Does the film tell us that dreams can come true no matter what? No, it doesn't but what it does get across is the message that you should try to achieve them, no matter what happens or what situation you're in. This is the kind of lecture Hustle and Flow gets across in an engaging and realistic manner thanks to the final few scenes which border on tragedy at its very best when a certain someone who a certain someone else looks up to dismisses the dream in an instant after so much work. For a film to focus on someone whom most would consider part of the dregs of society; have them go through so much, but not in the way of neatly plotted narrative, and then to have the bubble threaten to burst is a brave move because it could so easily be misread as a message that no matter what, you will fail. But right nearer the end, the film bails itself out by having its protagonist placed in a position of power from which others will look up to him in the same manner he once looked up to others. This is a brave film that introduces Djay (Howard) as someone you wouldn't give five minutes of your time to before taking him on this journey and then having the audacity to hammer home the wrong ideation. Djay is an African-American living in Memphis but he represents any living being who feels as if they're stuck in a rut without having found their 'form' or their calling. Like most African-Americans in Hollywood films, he is a pimp with few redeeming qualities. But the surprise here is the manner in which Hustle and Flow grabs this protagonist after a relatively low-key; urban cause and effect fuelled opening and has them suffer an epiphany so early on with two incidences opening his mind: that being the acquiring of an old electronic keyboard and the chance encounter with Key (Anderson), an old school buddy.The fact Djay specifically mentions his childhood when toying with the mock keyboard is one thing but the further emphasis on Key's character as a friend from school and the fact he is now in the music producing industry are two things that I feel call Djay into the world of music – they push him over the line if he was not already on the brink, albeit he perhaps did not know he was. The film at its core is about how one man can venture outside of the boundaries he knows like the back of his hand. Djay is a pimp and while he is not happy in that role, it is a role he seems accustomed to. His trading and dealing within his profession sees him sit in a car and talk every so often to customers perhaps interested in the girl he sits beside – it is simplistic and Djay is in a groove but the film follows a 'promotion' of sorts when he is elevated into the world of music. But the film covers the dangers of venturing outside this groove if anything else and the study is quite brilliant.It is not only Djay that the film touches on when it comes to characters being out of the boundaries of comfort. The film tells us the basic message that in order to achieve, do not keep yourself in the passage you're currently in and this counts for Djay but Key's scenario of already having a seemingly 'perfect' life is equally interesting. As a character, Key has elevated himself above Djay's prior position and has a nice house compared to Djay's dwelling; a loyal wife whom we elevate above Djay's girls thanks to the scene in her living room in which they sit in opposing positions, the simplest of compliments breaking out into an argument between Djay's two representatives and he also has a living in the music business which we put in stark contrast to Djay as a pimp. As the friendship rekindled wears on, Key will be tested in his patience and so will his relationship with his wife who is most concerned about the time he spends at the house with so many of the loose women she has recently had prior contact with. But as the film develops through its musically driven narrative complete with Oscar winning 'It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp' which in itself is about the rut and prior groove Djay found himself in, it becomes apparent that the hero of the hour is eyeing up a bigger prize and that is a rendez-vous with now legendary rapper Skinny Black (Ludacris). For the final third to be so involved and so decisive with the climax of this dream is quite extraordinary. The feeling of all or nothing is really put across in an impressive manner during this particular passage and the 'certain failure' which partly comes with this sort of story is somewhat harrowing in the sense that not only does it seem Djay might fail but the film may seem as if it will put across the wrong message completely. But the film is not that nasty and isn't about to undo all its hard work. A grittier and more hard hitting ending might well have worked against the film more than anything but for what it is, Hustle and Flow is an interesting and satisfying film which will give a sense of feeling and one of brooding atmosphere as it steers its way towards a dramatic climax.

Hustle and Flow is a very good come-up story of a small town southern pimp slash small time drug dealer D-Jay and the people in his life who help him along the way to realize his goal of making it in the rap game. D-jay is at a mid-life crisis in his life and is looking for a way out and a way up in the rap business. Terreance Howard gives a great performance as D-Jay a very believable character, also giving a good performance is Taryn Manning as Nola, D-Jays main girl in his stable of women. Every one else in the film gives a good performance too even usually over the top character actors DJ Qualls and Anthony Anderson give more realistic performances.Good soundtrack very original. Good directing and writing by Craig Brewer. Even though this film takes place in modern day it has the feel of a 70's blaxploitation soul cinema film, a genre i am a huge fan of. I like this film the most in the recent genre of rap musician life movies that have come out around the same time i.e. Get rich or die trying and 8 Mile. I am not a huge fan of rap music but this film and it's music is very believable and it captures you're attention from the start and holds it until the end, definitely worth the viewing.