From Pulitzer -Worthy Beginning to Pat Ending - SPOILERS

Rating: 7/10 (29 August 2005)

The performances were all (except that of Ludicrous, which was just OK) outstanding. I thought the first third of the movie was so spectacular that I said aloud to myself, "Forget Oscar, this should win a Pulitzer!" But right after I thought that, the movie changed. The movie went from layered and rich poetry to pat Hollywood formula. At the moment when the pimp made his #1 girl kiss the microphone, it all came crashing back to Earth for me.
The microphone as penis metaphor was so obvious and on the nose it made me mad. Making her kiss the microphone is no different from making her suck a d$#k. I'm sure that analogy is what the writer/director intended; but nonetheless, in either case the hooker has little power. Isn't she supposed to be on an upward trajectory of self-empowerment? Didn't she just participate in that "I'm in charge" scene? Rather than oblige and actually kiss the mic, she should have sung into it or spoken into it or somehow changed what he asked her to do so that she preserved even an inkling of personal power.
After that scene, the movie continued to be typical and, I dare say, more and more sexist. The male protagonist becomes increasingly nice and "gives" his women more and more power. The women don't claim it for themselves, they have to wait for it to be delivered. OK, fine so he's an ogre with a heart, but then what? Then the "hero" gets ridiculous. He becomes cartoon-angry over the tape in the toilet. Hasn't his character grown to be smarter and more proud than that? Surely his character would know that if Skinny didn't like it someone else would. Cut your losses and move on.
The whole ending sequence made the hero small and ignorant. He wasn't small and ignorant in the beginning, he was just a victim of circumstance embarking on a journey to self-empowerment. His actions at the end were regressive, not progressive. They were the actions of an idiot, not a hero. Sure, we can empathize and understand that he is angry and feels betrayed and that he had all his hopes on that one tape and with that one guy; but any reasonable person, let alone a hero on an upward spiral, would know to not overreact so hugely.
Anyhoo, despite those aspects that I found irritating, it was still a rich and interesting cinematic experience with unbelievable performances, especially from the pimp and his blond "primary investor."