Fails to answer the question of why it's so hard out there to be a pimp.

Rating: 7/10 (26 March 2006)

Alright, so even after watching the entirety of Hustle & Flow, I'm still quite uncertain why it's so hard out there to be a pimp. It's not that the movie doesn't try to tell you, it's just that it doesn't do a hell of a good job doing it.
Save spoiling the whole movie, DJay (Terrence Howard) is a pimp, who longs to make something of himself. He acquires an old keyboard through a drug deal, and after playing it, finds something he can do in order to stop having to pimp. He runs into an old pal (Anthony Anderson), who helps record music, and finds his way to achieve his goal.
Without going into too much description, the plot doesn't go too far from there. Long-winded symbolic speeches, and tons of rap music abound, but they don't allow a whole lot to be added to the film. The movie basically goes nowhere in just under two hours, and when it manages to try and attempt to, it becomes grounded and flies head-on into clichés. You get the sense that DJay wants more for himself, but his motivation is never really explained. He pokes at his upbringing, but not much is revealed other than a short, casual exchange. Yeah, the hookers he lives with whine and complain, but he really shows very little interest in that fact. Even after they yell at him for making them do the things they do, he still plays on their mind in order to make them want to continue.
Hell, he has millions of fans all over his house because it's too hot, and complains about not having any money, yet he manages to buy a new top-line keyboard through drug deals and pimping, what he was doing before when he claimed to have no money. So how did he pull off buying a new keyboard? It's never explained of course.
Another thing that doesn't help is the fact that while his performance is excellent, Terrence Howard is the whitest African-American in the world. His speech, his mannerisms, they aren't quite true to what is thought of to be a pimp, and they barely make a convincing black man. He just doesn't have it in him to play this kind of role, and it shows. He just seems to be having an awkward time throughout, and while he's trying to broaden out, he needs to learn his limits. His performance is easily the weakest of the five Academy Award nominated Actors, and could have clearly been filled by the likes of Ralph Fiennes, Eric Bana or Russell Crowe. Howard's acting was far superior in Crash, and should have been nominated over cast-mate Matt Dillon.
The supporting performances are all pretty good for their tightly written parts. While not particularly dramatic, Anthony Anderson does prove here that he play more than just the toking' black guy in an action or comedy movie. The two female leads are great, and Ludicrous even pulls in a pretty good performance (not that it was a whole stretch for him, but still).
The locales and film-making style are all pretty good (the title sequence nod to the 1970's was a good touch), and stay consistent throughout. The music of course, for a rap film, is loud and swear-word filled. But in this case, it works perfectly. The songs are all very well written, and even pretty catchy. Even though it's completely ridiculous, I'll be damned if I can't stop humming "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp".
In the end, it's not a particularly memorable film, but it's a worthy attempt.
7/10.