Plot Summary
DJay is a Memphis hustler who spends most days in a parked Chevy philosophizing about life while Nola (Taryn Manning), turn tricks in the backseat. He's not very good at pimping, but he can hustle almost anything or anyone and makes enough to keep himself and three girls satisfied and housed in his shotgun home. DJay however is in the midst of a midlife crisis; he quietly harbors dreams of becoming a respected rapper. When he learns from a local club owner, Arnel (Isaac Hayes), that rap mogul Skinny Black (Ludacris), is rolling through town, DJay decides to record his flow with the hopes of slipping his demo to Skinny. With little help from his friends and "family" DJay sets in motion the hustle of his life, and galvanizes the lives of those around him as they learn that "Everybody's gotta have a dream."
Credits
Actors
- Terrence Howard
- Taraji P. Henson
- Taryn Manning
- Anthony Anderson
- Isaac Hayes
- Ludacris
Director
- Craig Brewer
Screenwriter
- Craig Brewer
Producers
- Stephanie Allain
- Preston L. Holmes
- John Singleton
- Dwight Williams
Movie Reviews from Rotten Tomatoes
TOMATOMETER
82%- Reviews Counted: 154
- Fresh: 126
- Rotten: 28
- Average Rating: 7.3/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: 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.
Fresh: So much love went into Hustle & Flow that it almost glows with it.
Fresh: 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.
Rotten: Hustle & Flow promises gritty street drama but delivers Pretty Woman with crunk instead of Roxette.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic
This movie was genius. A great soundtrack, a detailed and heartbreaking plot, and 3-D characters. Hard out here, indeed.
One of my best films of 2005
This landed on my number 6 of 2005 with good reason. This film makes "8 Mile" look like beginner's luck. Although the songs are filled with heavily explicit material, they are 1,000 times better than the former film mentioned above in that the songs convey the pain, emotion, and struggles that the main character goes through. I'm surprised (and also glad) that Terrence Howard recieved a Golden Globe and Oscar nomination for his fine performance. Rapper Ludacris does another fine job as well (even if it was a short role) as both actors came hot off the heels of "Crash". That I'll save for another review (if iTunes gets it, that is.) As well as recieving a Golden Globe and Oscar (where it won for Best Song, surprisingly), the movie also recieved 4 MTV Movie Award nominations, including one for Howard.
Wow, Terrance Howard Shines
A fantastic debut for Craig Brewer. You may think it is a bad movie about pimps and rappers, but it is not. "Hustle and Flow" is about a man trying to find his way through life. Noteables are fantastic performances by Anthony Anderson and Ludacris, also "It's hard out here for a pimp" is a great song. It has a few slow scenes, but it is a great movie fueled by Terrance Howard.
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