Hustle & Flow - Il colore della musica

(Synopsis) DJay (Terrence Howard) is a streetwise hustler and Memphis pimp with a stable of 3 girls, Shug (Taraji Henson) who is pregnant and not working, Lexus (Paula Jai Parker) who works in a strip club, and Nola (Taryn Manning) who works out of DJay's old beat-up car in a back alley. Even with two girls working and DJay selling dirt-weed on the side, it is hard for them to make ends meet. The utility company is about to shut off their utilities, if they don't pay the bill. DJay feels that he has hit rock bottom, and he needs a change in his life. A bum trades him a Casio keyboard for some weed, and DJay takes it home. While playing the keys, DJay gets an inspiration to write rap music. He begins to write down his pimping style raps, his flow, in a little notebook while Nola is turning tricks. DJay runs into Key (Anthony Anderson), an old friend and sound engineer, who takes him to a church choir performance that reaches DJay's soul. DJay looks inside his soul and decides to get out of the business, and now he has a dream of becoming a rapper. DJay teams up with Key to make a demo song. Skinny Black (Ludacris) is a platinum selling rapper about to return to Memphis for the 4th of July. DJay believes he can hustle Skinny to hear his tape, and his dream will come true.

(Comment) The movie was filmed all around Memphis during 2004. Memphian Craig Brewer wrote and directed 'Hustle and Flow,' and I went to the red carpet movie premiere in Memphis on 6 July. Craig Brewer told the audience about his father's watch that was used in the movie, and he was wearing it for good luck that night. He was also wearing a 3-carat diamond ring that belonged to Sam Phillips. As for the movie, Terrence Howard's role as DJay is a remarkable one in that he becomes immersed in the character of DJay. Howard comes off as a real pimp with all the anger, conflicts, and frustrations, which he encounters in life. There is no such thing as a good pimp, but the character of DJay realizes that his women have dreams too, and that he wants to change everything around him and them for the better. The subject matter and the lyrics to the rap music are a little rough, but the movie is a good one to see. (Paramount Classics, Run time 1:54, Rated R) (8/10)

Terrence Howard plays a Memphis pimp who decides to give hardcore rapping a shot in this arresting, gritty drama. Howard plays DJay, who pimps girls out of his beat-up Chevy Nova. When he comes into the possession of an electronic keyboard, DJay plays around with it and finds he has a talent for writing and performing hard, violent lyrics.

On its face, this seems like a typical "man rises from the ashes of his hardscrabble life to experience success and then watches it all crash down around him" kind of movie. It's not a movie about suffering, success, and redemption, in other words. But it's not as predictable as it may seem at first blush, and Howard is not your typical actor, by any shot.

DJay lives with his small stable of prostitutes in a tumble-down shack in the Memphis ghetto. As pimps go, he's not exactly Donald Trump. Some dance for an exotic club during the day and hook at night; some hook all day. But the money's not rolling in for DJay, who remains somewhat confident that he'll someday come out ahead. When he obtains the keyboard, inspiration strikes, and a chance encounter with an old classmate (Anthony Anderson) who's now a producer (of sorts) gives DJay the opportunity to jump out of the rotten life he's carved for himself.

This never feels like a typical rise-and-fall story, and that's thanks in no small part to the powerful performance by Howard, who's much better here than in the critically lauded (by some) Crash. Appearing with Howard in Crash was Ludicrous, who also has a big role in Hustle and Flow - hey, some rappers are very good actors, it turns out. Howard, aided by a crisp script from Craig Brewer, who also directed, never portrays DJay as simply a nice guy with some flaws, someone who's been handed a bad hand and is making the best of it. It's clear that DJay's made all of his own choices, and the situation he finds himself in - depending on hookers for his livelihood - is of his own doing.

But neither does the script show DJay as being entirely bad, either, as evidenced by some surprisingly tender, moving scenes between DJay and Key (Anderson) and DJay and Shug, his pregnant woman. These scenes don't come off as stilted or insincere, and that's thanks especially to Howard's strong performance. True, too, are the scenes in which DJay lays down a rap track in his home; you can feel the rage seeping through your television.

This movie might be a difficult sell to those who have trouble relating to the environment and atmosphere in which DJay operates. Undoubtedly those who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks will recognize aspects of their own lives, identifying strongly with one or more of the characters. But even those of us who have never lived in squalor, who've generally had advantages that others do not, can appreciate the intense, gray world in which DJay and his associates live. Had this been a simple, typical biography of a musician from the mean streets, it wouldn't have had near the effectiveness, the passion of Hustle and Flow. The movie intrigues you, makes you want to know what happens to DJay, even when it's obvious he's a bit of a jerk. But because he's not a stupid man, his actions cannot be painted as simply good or simply bad. Howard, in particular, is well deserving of his critical accolades here.

I recently had the pleasure of viewing a local Hustle & Flow screening. I referred to this site beforehand to look at the technical details of the movie and to gain a general understanding of the buzz from the message boards. All I seem to recall reading were negative comments about the movie saying that it was such a cliché. Well, maybe I haven't seen as many movies in the hip hop coming of age genre, but the only movie I recall being remotely close to this one was 8 Mile (which I liked btw). Anyways, I saw the movie and I really don't think it was that cliché. The dialog is definitely original, the characters are original, the location is original, and there is a lot of depth within the character of DJay, the pimp trying to become a rapper. I thought the acting in the movie was excellent and I am glad that there is a wide release movie out this summer that isn't a sequel and didn't cost $200 million to make. This movie is bound to do very well, it only cost $3 million to make and it is a pretty good movie. The only problems I had with this movie were with some of the logic and character motivation. I don't think the movie explained very well WHY DJay (the pimp) wanted to become a rapper all of a sudden. They make the entire music making process seem like a piece of cake, but hey it is a movie and there are ultimately time constraints. I thought DJ Qualls was gonna be just a really lame piece of comic relief, but he actually adds depth to the film. I found Hustle & Flow to be very enjoyable and much more memorable than Batman Begins (which I saw last night!). This movie is definitely worth seeing this summer.

Incredibly moving, yet definitely not for everyone, Hustle & Flow tells the story of D-Jay, an incredibly conflicted Memphis pimp down on his luck. In one of the most raw and intense performances of recent memory, newcomer Terrence Howard embodies D-Jay with an animal-like ferocity that will help you overcome what few formulaic clichés embody the script. In his mid forties, D-Jay seems too old and far too nice for his profession, and his "hos" seem to take notice. You see, D-Jay represents a lifetime of failed dreams, ambitions, and wrong turns. It seems as if it could all be over, but then fate offers him the opportunity to realize his life-long goal of becoming a successful rap star. D-Jay pours his heart and soul into his music, just as Howard pours his into the performance, and the result is somewhat of a urban Rocky, a true underdog tale. This is perhaps the first hip-hop film to actually get it right, and everything that 8-Mile should have been. Don't let the subject matter keep you from enjoying Howard's brutal tour-de-force.

This is not a movie as much as it is a film. It depicts the seaming underbelly of the drug-infested music scene in the poor areas of Memphis. The cinematic properties and writing are like something out of a rap video crossed with a John Woo movie. It allows the viewer to delve into the life of an up and coming rapper slash drug dealer going through a mid-life crisis. Everything is so miserable that you can't help but develop a sense of compassion for the struggling performer that is the protagonist. You find yourself wishing for a happy ending. There is actually a sense of purpose within watching the film; something rather rare in this genre. All in all this is definitely a film worth watching.