"Hustle & Flow" (2005) - Movie Review

Working together as a team for any purpose gives a different kind of experience and satisfaction. Especially when it involves art and especially when it is making or playing music. It is always good to have a fight on whose instrument sounds better and fooling around without any clue during those strenuous and enthralling practices. I take some right on saying it because I used to be a part of my college band. We did not aspire as DJay (Terence Howard) but sure we had something to prove. Here DJay being a pimp asks the question to her girl Nola (Taryn Manning) what she wants to do with her life, but in a way he is asking himself.

There is always a borderline in all the movies with respect to showing the emotions. It is the balance which needs to strike upon being cheesy and being genuinely cheesy. “Hustle and Flow” is genuinely cheesy. This is of course a motivational movie about how a man so deep in a hole has a dream and begins to work towards it with all he has. While circumstances and his actions put him in a place he does not want to, he lives it as it becomes the addiction based comfort zone for him. He does not defend it. He realizes he is in a deep mess and it is high time to get his acts straight and do something.

DJay is the character no one can picture in a world of cities of niceties and comfort. He is caustic and yet he knows the way to talk something to be done clean and neat through any means. His work horse is Nola who does not have a clue on what it is but a girl at her position and state of mind, as she says “do not want to do this”. Its survival and they are used to it. They seem to conveniently put it back to get on with their life but it pricks every day and night. The same is with Shug (Taraji P. Henson) who is pregnant and is scared. She wants a life too and loves DJay. They think it is nothing but a dream of having a “normal” life and need to live with what they have to; DJay meets his old school mate Key (Anthony Anderson). Key digs the soul of DJay who gets his wake up call for his passion by the performance Key gives in Church. This is where everything seems right for DJay. He immediately follows his instincts and convinces Key. They believe that they can spin something phenomenal to make it to hip-hop music industry.

This is the momentum of the film. They utilize it right away and this is where they are genuine. They do not make it all happening picture perfect. It builds up slowly and steadily. The main part for a film like this is that to make the audience believe in the aspiring protagonist before even the film goes in telling their success story. Here they take their time. When Key hears DJay do some thing with the mini keyboard, it is not striking but the audience does not know how Key amplifies it as a solid recording. DJay puts in his effort in lyrics and Key gets how serious he is. The movie makes us believe that the effort is real. This is something which a movie like this might lose it. There are tons of motivational films especially in music. Where they fail is they spin the romance angle into deep that the real story gets lost. Here they have the romance come to tune right at the moment it is necessary and feels apt. And also the way they work in the session is a treat to watch. Sure they use lot of cheap trick here and there but it feels right. We do not mind those since at that point of time we want those good things to happen for DJay and his crew.

Another interesting aspect is the way they bring in the characters at the right moments. One of them is Shelby (DJ Qualls) who is this skinny white or “light skinned” guy. There always are these characters in any musical team. A hot headed but talented singer which is DJay, an extremely matured musician who wants everything perfect like Key and there is an anchor role which needs to be carried on by someone. That character is the one who takes on the responsibility of maintaining the truce and friendship in the band. And that is Shelby. It is not new either but here it is toned up properly.

There are results which are known. There are the emotions which are known. It has been done and done well too. “Hustle and Flow” does it well too. It is entertaining and realistic. It seems overly glossy but beats up the pragmatic side of it too. The situation and characters make this film for what it stands for. Theme upon music seems to be the passion for director Craig Bewer who uses Blues for his 2006 release “Black Snake Moan”. He employs those upbeat, soul bumping and energetic tunes to lift the spirit of DJay and his crew. It is tough to make a movie totally realistic and also tough to make it appealing to every different mentalities of the audience. Craig does it right with his cast giving an entertaining performance.