SGN Page 27

Friday
July 22, 2005
SGN.org
Volume 33
Issue 29

Sunday, Mar 21, 2010 02:42

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Beautiful, heartbreaking film Hustle and Flow is a true diamond

Beautiful, heartbreaking film Hustle and Flow is a true diamond
by Rajkhet Dirzhud-Rashid - SGN A&E Writer Hustle and Flow Directed by Craig Brewer and Produced by John Singleton Starring Terrence Howard, Anthony Anderson, DJ Qualls, Taraji P. Henson, Taryn Manning, Ludacris, Paula Jai Parker Opens July 22 After meeting Craig Brewer, the genius behind the absolutely flawless, divine production of his own magnum opus, Hustle and Flow, I had to give the man some props. My first thought was, here is this white guy who understands what it is to be born in the South, and be a Black man, with a dream and no money. We even laughed together about a particular scene in the film where Terrence Howard (who plays the main character Djay) gets his hair pressed in the kitchen of one of his "women," and knew that we both knew how significant that scene was to the film Hustle and Flow. Listening to how Brewer struggled to get the film produced, meeting closed door after closed door, one can't help but cheer for a man who, only in his late twenties, has gotten one of the biggest names in Black cinema to back him. Watching Hustle and Flow, which is so much more like a performance of theater and poetry than a film-I cheered, as well as felt my heart break, lift and soar as this film grabbed a hold of me. The film, set in Memphis, tells the story of Djay (Howard), an enterprising pimp and drug dealer trying to keep from drowning in the misery that is all around him. He also has a dream of becoming as big a rap star as his idol, "Skinny Black" (Ludacris in a breakout role), turning the pages of rough-edged poetry he writes in a small journal, into song lyrics. And then into hits. Only he's not sure how to move from his world of hustling into a world where his "flow," his music is primary, not just on the back burner. Enter his friend from high school days, Key (Anthony Anderson), who has become more successful than Djay, and who offers to help him, after hearing the rough form of Djay's song lyrics. The two build a recording studio in one of the rooms of the ramshackle house where Djay and his "ladies of the evening" reside when they aren't working the streets of Memphis or the dive bar where one of them works (Paula Jai Parker). And so they begin trying to organize Djay's lyrics into a form that will play on the radio, and become the ticket they both need and want to move forward in their lives. Meanwhile, trouble between Djay and Lexxus (Parker), one of the more unruly of his "women"' begins to reach a crescendo and eventually they part ways after an emotionally brutal argument that touches everyone in the house. Key's wife (Elise Neal) is having problems with the fact that her husband is spending time in a "house of ill repute" instead of eating dinner at home with her. But Djay's dream won't be denied, and eventually a tape is made to give to his idol, Skinny Black (Ludacris), who happens to be in town on the 4th of July for a concert and party in the local bar run by Arnel (Isaac Hayes), the bartender who suggested Djay meet Skinny Black in the first place. Unfortunately things go very wrong and Djay ends up behind bars, but not before he turns over his notebook of lyrics and the rights to turn his songs on the tape into a hit, to his key 'ho, Nola (Taryn Manning in her best role yet). So, it doesn't exactly have the Hollywood happy ending, but there is success for Djay, but more importantly there is a sense of victory for everyone that he has touched with his dream of being a hip hop sensation. To my mind, Hustle and Flow is like a dinner of the best soul food you can't buy in Seattle, a rare treasure to be savored and that should be rewarded by Hollywood next year, if the world is a fair place. In short, everyone should see this film, because it's the best damned thing you'll ever see on a big screen. See the full interview with director Craig Brewer in next week's SGN.