Movies
Hustle and Flow
An article of nouveau blaxploitation, a throwback even as to the chintziness of the production, centered around a small-time Memphis pimp and pusher, too cool to enunciate, who agrees to accept a kiddie keyboard as payment for a quarter bag, and sets out from there down the path of artistic self-expression ("I got this flow I need to spit"), shedding a tear along the way at a gospel recording session in church, owning up to "one of those midlife crises," and trying to follow in the footsteps of the neighborhood success story, Skinny Black (Memphis Skinny?). Et voilà, the hip-hop pimp: "Whup dat trick, get'm! Whup dat trick, get'm!" Terrence Howard plays the role with an openness and unguardedness that offer no defense against the blunt-force poignance, a bit like a ball on a batting tee. Writer-director Craig Brewer, who likes to get two or more people talking or yelling at once, mixes in four parts grit for every one part goop, a recipe for mud pie. With Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Taraji Henson, and Paula Jai Parker. 2005.
Reader Rating:
MPAA Rating: R