Hustle and Flow Review
by Stephen Bourne (ap291 AT FreeNet DOT Carleton DOT CA)July 31st, 2005
Hustle & Flow (2005)
Review by Stephen Bourne, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
http://www.geocities.com/iamstephenbourne/moviequips.html
Synopsis:
>From the moment that he touched the small plastic keyboard of that Casio
traded for a quarter bag, DJay (Terrence Dashon Howard) couldn't stop
thinking about it. How his life had come to this. Selling weed like a punk
kid hustler. Pimping out his blonde girl Nola (Taryn Manning) from the
front seat of his Chevy on these sultry Memphis back streets while his
other girl, Lexus (Paula Jai Parker), made him a few more dollars grinding
herself into strangers at the Showgirl strip club. Shug (Taraji P.
Henson), his third girl, had to quit turning tricks until she's done being
pregnant and useless in his dilapidated house. He used to actually be a
deejay, spinning Dance and Rap at a legitimate job back in the day. Back
when the world still owed him something and was ready to hand it over with
a smile. "You ain't never gonna be nothin' more than what you are right
now... my chauffeur," Lexus sneers at him. Fanning the fire in his belly
even further. Letting those first few electronic notes ripple their stark
beat into his bones. Exploding in a raw flurry of words and verses that
DJay fights to jot down in his notepad while they're still fresh and
untempered in his mind. He can't stop it. He doesn't want to stop this
tormented urge to make his music again that threatens to unhinge this
pitiful life he's stuck under. It's like God suddenly took notice of him.
Nobody gets it except his old friend Key (Anthony Anderson). Key - now
going by his real name, Clyde - followed his dream of being a recording
producer, ending up capturing Gospel music at his church and barely making
ends meet. He understands. Clyde has a sneaking suspicion that DJay is
playing him, but those words are poetic truth and need to be laid down.
Shelby (DJ Qualls), a vending machine stocker and pianist at Clyde's
church also gets it. He may be white but, as Clyde tells DJay, he's just
light skinned. The three of them hurry to set up a makeshift studio so
that DJay can make his music about the brutal life on the streets that
he's endured by his own making. There's no time to waste, because
successful millionaire artist Skinny Black (Ludacris) is coming home on
the Fourth of July, and DJay needs to make sure his demo tapes are ready.
However, his renewed partnership is straining Clyde's marriage, and this
cheap equipment they're using is undermining every effort to sound
professional. Desperation takes over and something's got to give soon.
Review:
Holy cripes. This absolutely astounding cinematic masterpiece from
writer/director Craig Brewer ('The Poor and Hungry' (2000)) is as close to
the marrow of raw intensity as has likely ever been seen on the big screen
in many years - if ever. The script rips into you straight from the
opening scene and continues relentlessly to roll you around in its
smorgasbord of unfettered jagged emotions until the closing credits. Quite
frankly, it's better than awesome. It's off the scale. Every aspect of
this hundred and sixteen-minute treasure is sheer perfection. Finally,
music lovers and moviegoers are given the extremely rare opportunity to
realistically feel as though you're actually witnessing the birth of a
truly invigorating piece of music as depicted in a film about, well,
making music at ground level. Scott Bomar's soundtrack is phenomenal -
even more so, if you enjoy the particularly blunt and cuss saturated, hard
edged genre of Rap featured here. It's scary, thrilling, ugly and
hypnotic all in the same breath, and Brewer deftly captures every note
with deliberate brilliance. Plus, you get an incredibly captivating story
about this Memphis low life going by the monicker D Jay desperately
attempting to turn around his dead end life as a volatile pimp through a
fragile reclamation of his former musical abilities that exponentially
consumes him like an addiction. Howard seamlessly immerses himself into
the role, naturally interpreting and articulating this otherwise
completely unlikable character in such a way that a paying audience can't
help but root for his success. One of the best parts about that is in how
it's shown that he simply can't do it on his own, and has no alternative
but to change his entire parasitic mindset and begin relying on others -
including those who he'd previously lorded over and mistreated. As with
his music, watching DJay's transformation truly is astounding. Powerful.
'Hustle & Flow' also features a wonderful cast of top notch co-stars,
which includes Taryn Manning ('White Oleander' (2002), 'A Lot Like Love'
(2005)) as prostitute turned "primary investor" Nola, Anthony Anderson
('Romeo Must Die' (2000), 'Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London' (2004))
portraying old pal and perfectionist producer on a shoestring Clyde a.k.a.
Key, DJ Qualls ('Road Trip' (2000), 'The Core' (2003)) as wunderkind
percussionist Shelby, and Taraji P. Henson ('Baby Boy' (2001)) playing DJay's very pregnant housebound hooker and unassuming back up vocalist Shug. Each one these roles could have easily had an entire movie made
about them individually. All of them feel real and completely believable
throughout. The writing, and their acting, are both that superb. Nothing
is watered down. Yes, the MPAA has slapped an R rating on this superior
must-see gem, primarily for its sexual and drug related content, and the
pervasive bad language that does become specifically annoying fairly
quickly, but there really isn't any other contemporary way of telling
everything that needs to be told here in as honest a way as Brewer has
presented. This Sundance winner is one of those very few pictures that
you'll probably come out afterwards wanting to convince everyone you know
that they need to see. And, you'd be right. Definitely do yourself an
incredibly fulfilling favour and check out this perfect example of high
calibre movie making intended for mature ticket holders looking for clear
signs of genius from Hollywood.
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