Hustle & Flow

My teens are addicted to the show "Empire"... and I recently became an addict... but my kids knew nothing about "Hustle and Flow", so of course I had to school them. lol. They loved it, and watched it several times over. Even my mom who's 63 loved it. This is one of the most inspirational movies of all time. It gives people (who haven't had to struggle) a bit of insight to how things go down in the hood.... The movie captures emotion, exposes weaknesses, and humbling vulnerabilities that you wouldn't typically see, which helps break the stigma most people place on people in that position.I always get hype when the "Whoop that Trick" song comes on. lol. I can't help it. If you ever want to feel motivated, just play that song, crank it up- and get ready to take on anything! Not to mention, Terrence has always been my star crush since back in the day! He's such a talented, intense, and passionate actor, who made movies like this possible! The movie writers and producers are genius! Still an amazing movie in 2019. The movie cover doesn't do it any justice!

This film starts with what seems to be a shallow promise -- an inner city hustler, a pimp and a small time drug dealer, has a dream of making it as a rapper. But the story turns out to be a commentary on love, loyalties, and false expectations. The whole film is so well thought out, and brilliantly constructed. Wonderfully done, superb story, and terrific performances. Bravo!

Hustle & Flow starts off with a monologue by Terrence Howard as the pimp DJay talking about how people need a purpose and direction in their lives otherwise they will always be asking “what if” they had not followed their aspirations. This represents the major theme of the movie. DJay is unhappy with his life and would like to do music instead of running prostitutes. He’s never had any motivation however until he buys a keyboard from a bum one night which re-ignites his interest and starts a new career path. The problem is he finds out that the music game isn’t easy. He needs a break to get his music heard. That represents the major plot in the movie as DJay along with his compatriots Key (Anthony Anderson) and Shelby (DJ Quails) with some singing by Shug (Taraji P. Henson) one of his prostitutes along with management by another one of his women Nola (Taryn Manning) try to make it.The movie is a blast. It’s gritty, it’s real, it’s hood, it’s hip hop.In the end the movie is not just about DJay but the dreams of everyone involved including Key, Shelby, Shug, and Nola. Music brings them together and offers them the opportunity they’ve always wanted.C

A very well directed, acted, and story written movie that deserves more than 5 stars. This movie goes on my list of all time favorites. It is phenomenal. As well as educational as the most recent reviewer (March 2015) stated.

I just love the way that the characters in this movie discover themselves, and become something more. The casting is perfect. Terrence Howard gives us a award-winning performance. This movie is mostly an unknown sleeper for the General Public, but I'll bet it will occasionally be rediscovered, slowly gaining more and more fans.

My real rating would be 3.5 stars. Terrance Howard really came with it in his acting and the storyline had very good character arcs. There was realism to the story. That said, the movie was kind of meaningless at the end. Not a disappointing end. Just underdeveloped. You got so deep into these characters and then you're left thinking... OK. It was a lot of running for that particular ending... Not a bad movie at all though. It's one of those you have to watch with an open mind and judge for yourself. It did have the makings for a great movie.

Let me say for starters that I am a 64 year old granny and English. So............ hmmm not the type of movie I normally watch, and to be honest I dont remember the reason why we watched it in the first place. I was expecting a story about exploitation and maybe violence and incomprehensible dialog and horrid music. What I got was a beautiful move. Very funny, moving and overall inspirational.OK so we have the pimp giving his girls a line to get them doing what he wants. His overblown connections are mostly in his imagination and he knows this is his life and it is going nowhere. Neither him or his girls appear to have anything but a very basic education or infrastructure of support. He sees someone from the 'old days' doing well and decides to try it out for himself - except of course he has no skills and no idea how to begin. Together with his girls he invades the home, marraige and life of an old school friend and draws him in together with a member of his church. A few dozen egg boxes, a bit of bartering in the form of a sexual act for a mic, a drug bribe to noisy neighbors and they are ready to go.This is where it gets really good. No, I mean it this is where it turns brilliant. One of his heavily pregnant girls has a fab voice and a grammy winning song emerges. I dont want this to be a spoiler so I am not going to give this away but by the end we were almost jumping up and down and laughing and not wanting it to end. It is a movie about belief in oneself, love (the kissing scene is totally beautiful), and emergence. The friend and his wife's relationship is improved, and the blond hooker truly finds the power within. The acting is wonderful from everyone involved. There is no graphic sex and there is not much violence. Yes there is exploitation but even that has a role in the outcome of this movie. I regularly use clips from this movie in my college classes. Give it a go and if you hate it I am sorry - you have to have an open mind and watch it all.Find more products to review at:

Pretty realistic movie. It shows the real life that people want to really live. Not the life they are living. Most of all. Dreams can come true if you are persistent enough. Really liked the ending. Would recommend this movie.

A tough, by moments unpleasant and shocking but still very good drama. I liked it a lot. Below, more of my impressions, with some limited SPOILERS.DJay (Terrence Howard) is a pimp and small time drug dealer. He has a "stable" of three girls: Nola (Taryn Manning), the "white bunny", Shug (Taraji P. Henson), a shy gal, currently heavily pregnant and Lexus (Paula Jai Parker), who is loudmouthed and rebellious. DJay barely manages to break even and is quite obviously dissatisfied with his life. One day he meets succesively a keyboard for kids and an old friend from school, Key (Anthony Anderson), who has become a sound technician. That gives him an idea - he will make hip hop songs and get rich... And then the film really begins.The main character is a mixture of pathetic and unpleasant, the three female characters live in misery and exploitation and as we all know the best laid plans frequently don't survive the first contact with reality, but somehow this film manages to stay optimistic. This is the story of a man and three (later two) women who try to change their lives to better and it is shown in a great way. I was quite impressed by the scenario, the actors (especially Taraji P. Henson) and, even if I don't really care much for rap, yes, even the music. The song "It's hard out here for a pimp" very deservedly received in 2006 the Oscar for Best Song.Even if I cannot really sympathise with the main character, this film completely broke through my defenses in the anthology scene in which DJay prepares for the fight of his life, like a knight going to tournament. I also liked the humour, which is of greatest quality, even if frequently laced with obscenity. The last joke in the film really made me laugh out loud.This film reminded me of "The Wire" and also "Set it off", even if it is less violent and less tragic. The quality of the direction is just amazing. Even if this kind of films is not my usual poison, I liked "Hustle and flow" a lot and I probably will keep the DVD. A recommended viewing.

A film about a pimp taking the plunge and working towards his dream of being a rapper. An (apparently) warts and all look at a section of black American culture.I can't say I know too much about any of this, and I have no idea if it's true to life, but the characters are believable and their interactions are at times inspiring, or hilarious, or gross, at other times, curious.Perhaps the main message for me from this film is a really good reiteration of `it's not what you do, but how you do it, that really counts.'Why? Because I don't really get hip-hop/rap, and it has little value to me (although some of the vocal agility is incredible to hear), but seeing the people in the film basing their lives and love around it in such an earnest, believable way just reminds me that anything any of us does is ultimately pointless: its our commitment and dedication that makes our ultimately pointless endeavours carry the meaning and value that we mostly appear to crave.It's a good, life-affirming film. Framed in a fairly rough setting.

Good film

The film came on time! Loved it and it came securely wrapped.

Great