Hustle and Flow Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)August 19th, 2005
HUSTLE & FLOW
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
HUSTLE & FLOW is a surprisingly moving, sad and even uplifting story about a pimp who runs his "$20 ho's" out of his junker Chevy. DJay (Terrence Dashon Howard in a marvelous piece of work) is the aforementioned small business owner. In something of an extended family, he lives with his prostitutes and their kids and generally takes pretty good care of them all.
Nola (Taryn Manning) and Lexus (Paula Jai Parker) are DJay's two working prostitutes. Also living with him is Shug (Taraji P. Henson), who can't currently turn tricks since she's about to have a baby. Although he and his women are currently getting by on their meager income, DJay, in what he acknowledges is a mid-life crisis, wants to do something more than run a stable of whores. His goal is to make it in the world of rap. Anthony Anderson, in one of his few non-comedic roles, plays Key, DJay's old high school buddy. Key has a dream too. Although he is now a middle class black, he wants to be a record producer, the same dream he had way back in high school. Anderson, like Howard and every other actor in the film, delivers dead-on, heartfelt performances that are as touching as they are convincing.
Although I can't switch the dial fast enough if I hear rap on my radio, I was mesmerized by the whole production of DJay's music. The sessions in their homemade studio are priceless. A long subplot about Skinny Black (Ludacris), a famous rapper whose help DJay wants to enlist, feels like extra plot baggage but does work nonetheless. The film features two endings, and they are both quite satisfactory.
HUSTLE & FLOW runs 1:56 but feels much shorter. It is rated R for "sex and drug content, pervasive language and some violence" and would be acceptable for most teenagers.
The film is playing in nationwide release now in the United States. In the Silicon Valley, it is showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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Email: Steve.Rhodes@InternetReviews.com
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