Hustle & Flow

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

One man's struggle to rise above his circumstances prompts him to try a career in music in this acclaimed drama from writer and director Craig Brewer. Djay (Terrence Howard) is a low-level pimp and drug dealer who scraped together a living in the ghettos of Memphis, TN. Djay isn't happy with his life, and the realization that he's reached the same age when his father unexpectedly died has made him start thinking about changing his ways. Djay has always had a gift for spinning stories, and after picking up a cheap keyboard, he begins picking out beats to go along with his rhymes. After bumping into an old high-school buddy who works in gospel music, Key (Anthony Anderson), Djay decided to take the plunge and remake himself as a rapper. With the technical know-how of Key and the musical input of a local beat maker named Shelby (DJ Qualls), Djay begins turning his way with words and his first-hand knowledge of the street life into music, as his two live-in girlfriends, Lexus (Paula Jai Parker) and Shug (Taraji P. Henson), add their musical input and emotional support and Nola (Taryn Manning) continues to turn tricks to pay the bills. When local boy-turned-nationwide hip-hop star Skinny Black (Ludacris) comes to town to pay a visit to Arnel (Isaac Hayes), a club owner friendly with Djay, he sees an opportunity to put his demo in the hands of someone who can bring his music to the masses, though it turns out to be far more difficult than he expected. Hustle & Flow had its world premiere at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, where it received a number of rave reviews and took home the Audience Award. — Mark Deming

AMG Review:
Even more than its thematic cousin, Curtis Hanson's 8 Mile, Hustle & Flow harnesses the grungy essence of grass-roots hip-hop — the kind produced in basements and garages — and filters it through one of 2005's most intense performances. From his throwback 1970s title card onward, writer/director Craig Brewer has produced a blisteringly hip breakthrough, one that's as capable with iconic images as it is with penetrating a deeply complex antihero. Playing that central figure is Terrence Howard as Djay, a revelation of simmering menace, whose desire to escape his daily pimp-and-ho grind is a physical force. As coldly efficient as his methods are, this is clearly a man with a conscience, a stern yet secretly caring father figure to the stable of prostitutes who live in his Memphis bungalow. The poetics of his street philosophies — unobtrusive soliloquies in Brewer's dialogue — naturally dovetail into the necessary rhythms and life experiences for rap. As he gathers a motley group of collaborators, the music takes shape with a booming and vibrating gristle that is absolutely invigorating. Inspired by the overnight fame of another local street figure, Djay channels his gifts of persuasion into everything from acquiring sound equipment to quieting the neighbors during recording. The supporting performances add whatever Brewer and Howard cannot. DJ Qualls excels as a talented white mixing geek whose street posturing actually ends up seeming cool. Anthony Anderson clearly relishes a well-deserved respite from contemporary blaxploitation comedies, yet still joins with Qualls to contribute the film's significant doses of humor. Even rapper Ludacris is good as Skinny Black. But sharing the soul of this film with Howard are women: Taryn Manning's Nola, whose braided-blond tough girl just wants a little validation, and Taraji Henson's Shug, who finds her own fragile relevance through the music. The rare MTV Films release that actually uses songs as enthralling and indispensable ingredients, Hustle & Flow is an unqualified shot of cinematic adrenaline, that studio's best film since Election. — Derek Armstrong