Not the usual blaxsploitation

Rating: 8/10 (28 April 2014)

DJay (Terrence Howard) is a Memphis pimp and a drug dealer with a dream. His hoe Nola (Taryn Manning) is actually more of a friendly co-worker. Shug (Taraji P. Henson) is a pregnant mess. When he buys a kid's keyboard from a street drunk, he renews his music dreams. He bumps into his old schoolmate Key (Anthony Anderson) who with Shelby (DJ Qualls) helps him record his songs. It's a struggle as he hustles for the recordings and the chance to get his music played. He aims to bring his music to successful rapper Skinny Black (Ludacris), but it's a long winding road.
This movie has loads of atmosphere due to the gritty Memphis locations. On the surface, it's another blaxsploitation movie about the hustle, rappers, drug deals, pimps and hoes. But it's much more about the downtrodden who still have their own dreams. It takes the stereotypical characters and give them life. Also there's a scattering of white characters here. So it's not a simple movie about pimps and hoes. Then there is also the great music. There is still no other Oscar winning song quite like "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp". The performances are superb especially Terence Howard. Even Anthony Anderson puts in a solid dramatic performance.