Review of Hustle & Flow (2005) by Bret G — 17 Oct 2014

When I first watched "Hustle & Flow" in, like, 2009-ish. I thought it was "just" a movie about some pimp trying to be a rapper. And while I was right, there's more to the movie and characters than meets the eye.

You have Djay (the main protagonist) trying to come up with a way to live, right? 'Cause he brings up the fact that he's not really livin' [as noted by Key, Day's producer] and that he hates "this shit" in regards to his pimp/drug-dealin' lifestyle.

He meets Key and things get rollin'--now he's makin' his way to getting something accomplished, something that isn't just dealin' weed or collectin cash from his hos, something "more," right? Djay's really just looking for a way to be heard.

A way to make things better for himself [and later, for the woman that he discovers that he loves]. In many ways, there's similarities to "8 Mile," Djay--like Rabbit--has ONE shot to make it big.

To get his dream to become real involves him meeting up with famous underground rapper by the name of Skinny Black, who's returning to his hometown to revisit his roots (yeah, I didn't care about his character) [Skinny Black is played by Ludacris].

I don't want to spoil what goes down, but, in the end, Djay's climb to fame ['ironically'] is not a result of kneeling before someone that he views as the holder of the future. Instead, his dream comes about because someone closer to him [and more significant to his life] puts Djay's demo on the air.

He didn't need Skinny Black, he thought he did, but....I guess you could say that he just had to follow his dreams the way that he felt that it needed to play out. The scene where Nola gets Djay his microphone and the scene where Djay picks up his demo from a toilet are two of the best ones from the movie.

Particularly the 'demo in the toilet' scene--that's Djay's past, present, and future right there; Skinny Black, without any thought, treated it in the same way that Yevette viewed Djay's life.

Or, at least, in the same way that someone from outside might turn, see how Djay lives, and think "damn, that's low, he ain't shit." But, because that Demo is the ONLY thing that Djay has; he doesn't hesitate from picking it up from that toilet with--who knows--what was in there.

On a completely separate note, there ARE some intriguing social commentaries, I'd say, in regards to the "black community." There's a scene in "Freedom Writers" where a student says something like "if you cant dribble a ball or spit a verse, then you're dead," and Hilary Swank's character promptly asks, "but what if you can't dribble a ball or spit a verse?" I don't think the film was trying to highlight the lack of viable opportunities in the black community from the perspective of a young black male, but that seems to be a vague underlying 'theme.

' BUT, I'm not standing by that point just because this story could be told through anyone's lenses. Like, if you have a certain location, ethnic demographic, limited education tools and access, etc then the story could have been about a young Asian male or a young Hispanic female.

I mean, Hip Hop isn't black and white, but I don't want to rule out certain things completely. Nevertheless "Hustle & Flow" is a good movie, I don't think you have to be a rap fan to recognize where the film's trying to go and what the characters are trying to do.

Terrance Howard, Taraji P. Henson (she's so sweet here), Taryn Manning, and everyone else do an excellent job.