Hustle & Flow

Watch: Hustle & Flow

7/22/20051h 56m

Theatrical Release (US)

~ Everybody gotta have a dream. ~

Overview:

With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.

Director:

Craig Brewer

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$8,000,000.00

Revenue:

$23,563,727.00

Key words:

drug dealer
career
baby
rap music
hip-hop
midlife crisis
rapper
biting
blunt
shocking
desperate
anxious
egotistical
derogatory
foreboding

Cast

Terrence Howard

~ as ~

Djay

Anthony Anderson

~ as ~

Key

Taryn Manning

~ as ~

Nola

Taraji P. Henson

~ as ~

Shug

DJ Qualls

~ as ~

Shelby

Ludacris

~ as ~

Skinny Black

Paula Jai Parker

~ as ~

Lexus

Elise Neal

~ as ~

Yevette

Isaac Hayes

~ as ~

Arnel

Juicy J

~ as ~

Tigga

View full cast & crew

Reviews (1)

CinemaSerf
Written 1 year(s) ago
6
Terrence Howard really does put his heart and soul into this gritty story of an aspiring man who wants to leave his pimping days behind him and become an hip-hop MC. Living in Memphis, the city has an huge musical tradition but his own personal baggage threatens to drag him down at every opportunity as he tries to attach himself to visiting superstar "Skinny Black" (Ludacris). He knows that this is likely to be his last opportunity to escape the cycle of hopelessness he faces, but can he stay focused, on-course and away from crime long enough to prove his worth? The main characterisation of "Djay" is strongly portrayed here with guts and a degree of viscerally plausible credibility that really works at times. Sadly, though, the bulk of the rest of it resorts to more aggressive and would mouthed stereotyping that reinforces so many pejorative views of how African American men treat each other and the women (and children) in their lives. It's that very sad predictability that rather ruined the potency of Howard's effort here, and by mid-way through I can honestly say I couldn't have cared less whether he succeeded or not. Too many lives had already been ruined by his previous behaviour, so why should he escape the consequences of a vicious circle he had quite an hand in creating? There's plenty for fans of the musical genre to get their teeth into as that offers a boxing-like conduit for those without academic credentials to use their more creative talents to escape their torpor and find hope. It may well resonate more in the USA, but elsewhere it can come across as a story of an unlikeable man who played in the dog-eat-dog world until it no longer suited him, then tried to escape being eaten himself.