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Critics Consensus: Hustle & Flow is gritty and redemptive, with a profound sense of place and exciting music.
Critic Consensus: Hustle & Flow is gritty and redemptive, with a profound sense of place and exciting music.
All Critics (156) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (128) | Rotten (28) | DVD (19)
Howard redeems this lumpy fantasy. Soft-spoken and mysterious, he presides over the movie with a dangerous, feline grace.
It's kind of a conventional story, but it's told in such a unique way and the locations in Memphis all feel very authentic.
Hustle & Flow suspends you in its spell of mood, of feeling, of climate. It's a pop picture that finds its richness in peeling down to the essentials of good storytelling.
Watching as a pimp, a pothead and a pregnant hooker play and sing in a makeshift bedroom recording studio, and becoming increasingly caught up in their determination and hope, it's impossible not to think that this is a part of the American Dream, too.
Every now and then, Brewer pulls off a near-miracle with his flinty characters: He lets us, for a moment, slip into their lives -- and sing their song.
Unlikely as this may sound, Hustle & Flow -- about a low-down Memphis pimp who wants to be a rapper -- is the feel-good movie of the summer.
Of all the exuberantly built-up beats, Taraji P. Henson's beautifully shocked and elated response to unexpectedly forming the nucleus of "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" gives "Hustle" its soul and won that song an Oscar.
For an alleged indie hit, the film is nothing if not shrewd about audience-hooking and sensory-manipulation
Edgy camerawork fails to distract from the fact that Hustle & Flow -- a hit a Sundance -- is about as edgy as the crust on Mom's apple pie.
...an inspiring and ennobling character study in which love and respect trump pure success.
Craig Brewer has a distinctive voice. He writes dialogue that authentically conveys the truth of real life while also touching on universal themes of hope and healing.
...fiercely original, thoroughly engaging...
A pimp tries to make it as a rap star with the help of his hookers and an old friend from the neighborhood. Terrence Howard turns in a fantastic performance, utterly convincing as Djay, a pimp with musical aspirations. His character seems real, fleshed out, and interesting, and Howard's work carries the film. The story is fairly basic, but I think the biggest problem is its misogyny. The filmmakers have to be aware of the ridiculous irony inherent in having a prostitute sing "Whoop that trick!" or "It's hard out here from a pimp." It's too ironic to be unintentional, yet I can't figure out what the intention is. After all, the film identifies with Djay's journey to such a degree that I have a hard time thinking of this film as satire, and trying to prove that prostitutes become agents in their own denigration isn't a productive insight. Overall, this film is worth seeing if only for Terrence Howard.
Super Reviewer
DJay: I'm here trying to squeeze a dollar out of a dime, and I ain't even got a cent man. "Everybody gotta have a dream." Hustle & Flow is one of those movies that I didn't want to see end. The film had a lot going for it, from a natural knowledge of the small time hustlers and dealers to the surprisingly good music; and of course there's Terrence Howard in the role that really gave him a name. DJay is a smalltime pimp and drug dealer living in Memphis with three of his women and a small child. He's struggling with life as he enters a mid-life crisis because of a memory of his father dying at the age he is now. To try to improve his life, he begins rapping. He meets an old school friend who is now a gospel music producer, and brings him and another producer on to help make DJay's demo tape. This movie isn't overly original in anything it is doing, but the voice is good. The dialogue hits like a hard bass beat the whole film long. Especially when the words are coming out of Howard's mouth. Howard does a phenomenal job with his dialogue and the accent of the character. He basically is this movie and with it resting on his shoulders, it succeeds. The content isn't for everyone as there's a lot of demeaning language toward women and what not, but it can't be slandered for its content. The content is dead on and this fictional story of a hustler turned actor has a basis in real life as many rappers used to be exactly what DJay is. As far as a urban, music, crime drama goes; Hustle & Flow is an entertaining and well-made one to get into.
I hesitated for 8 years before finally seeing Craig Brewer's debut and I have to say I was very impressed. The biggest surprise to me was the amazing dialogue (written by Brewer as well), it's like if Tarantino made a film about southern hip hop, this would be it. Great performances by the entire cast.
[img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/user/icons/icon14.gif[/img] Shortly after the film's release, the subsequent project by legendary and visionary director Craig Brewer which he also penned and directed was Black Snake Moan, my favourite film of all time. So by nature I was excited and had high expectations before seeing it but they were elevated even higher when I discovered that the film was phenomenally succesful critically. I was probably more frightened about being dissapointed with it than any film i've ever watched but it just completely overwhelmed me and then some. Everything about Hustle and Flow works. Terrence Howard brings Djay to life emotionally with an outstanding and thankfully recognised stand out performance that achieved a deserved Oscar nomination. It is masterfuly directed by Brewer who's tight script and inspired setting creates the film's emotional unrestraint and mind blowing depth. If there are two things i've learnt from Brewer it's that he can sympathise even the most disturbed and unsettled characters and animate societies social outcasts and thats what I love that about him, and the film he's made here. A pimped out soundtrack, perfect performances and expectations met, in my opinion it's one of the most edgy and entertaining films of 2004.
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