Threatens to undo all its good work and morals about effort but remains a steady and interesting look at hope.

Rating: 7/10 (30 July 2008)

Is Hustle and Flow about dreams? Most definitely. Does the film tell us that dreams can come true no matter what? No, it doesn't but what it does get across is the message that you should try to achieve them, no matter what happens or what situation you're in. This is the kind of lecture Hustle and Flow gets across in an engaging and realistic manner thanks to the final few scenes which border on tragedy at its very best when a certain someone who a certain someone else looks up to dismisses the dream in an instant after so much work. For a film to focus on someone whom most would consider part of the dregs of society; have them go through so much, but not in the way of neatly plotted narrative, and then to have the bubble threaten to burst is a brave move because it could so easily be misread as a message that no matter what, you will fail.
But right nearer the end, the film bails itself out by having its protagonist placed in a position of power from which others will look up to him in the same manner he once looked up to others. This is a brave film that introduces Djay (Howard) as someone you wouldn't give five minutes of your time to before taking him on this journey and then having the audacity to hammer home the wrong ideation. Djay is an African-American living in Memphis but he represents any living being who feels as if they're stuck in a rut without having found their 'form' or their calling. Like most African-Americans in Hollywood films, he is a pimp with few redeeming qualities. But the surprise here is the manner in which Hustle and Flow grabs this protagonist after a relatively low-key; urban cause and effect fuelled opening and has them suffer an epiphany so early on with two incidences opening his mind: that being the acquiring of an old electronic keyboard and the chance encounter with Key (Anderson), an old school buddy.
The fact Djay specifically mentions his childhood when toying with the mock keyboard is one thing but the further emphasis on Key's character as a friend from school and the fact he is now in the music producing industry are two things that I feel call Djay into the world of music  they push him over the line if he was not already on the brink, albeit he perhaps did not know he was. The film at its core is about how one man can venture outside of the boundaries he knows like the back of his hand. Djay is a pimp and while he is not happy in that role, it is a role he seems accustomed to. His trading and dealing within his profession sees him sit in a car and talk every so often to customers perhaps interested in the girl he sits beside  it is simplistic and Djay is in a groove but the film follows a 'promotion' of sorts when he is elevated into the world of music. But the film covers the dangers of venturing outside this groove if anything else and the study is quite brilliant.
It is not only Djay that the film touches on when it comes to characters being out of the boundaries of comfort. The film tells us the basic message that in order to achieve, do not keep yourself in the passage you're currently in and this counts for Djay but Key's scenario of already having a seemingly 'perfect' life is equally interesting.
As a character, Key has elevated himself above Djay's prior position and has a nice house compared to Djay's dwelling; a loyal wife whom we elevate above Djay's girls thanks to the scene in her living room in which they sit in opposing positions, the simplest of compliments breaking out into an argument between Djay's two representatives and he also has a living in the music business which we put in stark contrast to Djay as a pimp. As the friendship rekindled wears on, Key will be tested in his patience and so will his relationship with his wife who is most concerned about the time he spends at the house with so many of the loose women she has recently had prior contact with. But as the film develops through its musically driven narrative complete with Oscar winning 'It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp' which in itself is about the rut and prior groove Djay found himself in, it becomes apparent that the hero of the hour is eyeing up a bigger prize and that is a rendez-vous with now legendary rapper Skinny Black (Ludacris).
For the final third to be so involved and so decisive with the climax of this dream is quite extraordinary. The feeling of all or nothing is really put across in an impressive manner during this particular passage and the 'certain failure' which partly comes with this sort of story is somewhat harrowing in the sense that not only does it seem Djay might fail but the film may seem as if it will put across the wrong message completely. But the film is not that nasty and isn't about to undo all its hard work. A grittier and more hard hitting ending might well have worked against the film more than anything but for what it is, Hustle and Flow is an interesting and satisfying film which will give a sense of feeling and one of brooding atmosphere as it steers its way towards a dramatic climax.