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.

Hustle & Flow has the perfect balance of. Drama, Music, and performances. I firmly believe without the passionate performances, this movie wouldn't have been as strong as it was. Terrence Howard's character is a tad bit abrasive at times, but his heart of gold, and his never-give up mentality made the character perfect in my opinion. What really made the movie for me was it's realism.. The characters felt real, the situations seemed real, and the ending wasn't all that far-fetched either, and really made me smile. The ending is one of the best things about the movie because it wasn't all that unbelievable. You will hate Skinny for what he does, and it will certainly mess with your emotions. I firmly believe this movie isn't for everyone, due to its violent language and the fact that not everybody is into Rap. But it is worth it in my opinion.Performances. Terrence Howard is Oscar worthy here. It truly was a star-making performance, and I loved everything about his character. Despite some of his abusive and abrasive actions, he remained likable. He was the heart and soul of this film. Anthony Anderson can actually ACT!. I was shocked at his maturity and how good he was here. Taryn Manning is fantastic as the vulnerable, and often overlooked woman. I felt for her on many occasions, and thought she did a great job. DJ Qualls is excellent as well surprisingly. He injected a nice amount of humor into his part. Taraji P. Henson is solid as the love interest. She was likable and never overdid it. Ludicrous played scum perfectly. I couldn't stand him as Skinny.Bottom line. It's powerful, engrossing and a joy to watch. Don't be turned off by it, because of its subject material. Critics were 100% right about this one. A must see.9/10

As a person who listens to all kinds of music I was interested in this film. I was surprised by it. Perhaps I shouldn't have expected it to be anything special. Rap lines like 'it's hard out here for a pimp' don't quality as anything in my book. To me that sounds the same as 'it's hard to be stupid.' I like Run DMC and a few others, who I feel have some artistic credibility, but I think this movie does significant damage to the idea of rap as notable street poetry. I feel this film makes rapers look like they all have their heads on backwards, which I think is not always the case. Coming nowhere near the stinging social commentary of an Ice-T, this film is sly reductionism rather than entertainment or enlightenment. In a world that turns out hundreds of films a year it really should not surprise me that something like this came along. Given enough time just about every point of view gets represented,unfortunately.

I think I saw Todd Hood (previous reviewer) (from Hawaii and a crack head) on dog the bounty hunter. I just cant remember if it was before or after I saw this movie. Apparently no one actually previews any of these reviews otherwise this never would have made it onto this site. There was barely any relevant information on the movie at all in this review. the only thing I can be sure of from reading this is Todd needs a job, and rehab!! The movie was enjoyable but nothing to write home about. Terrence Howard did an excellent job and was the primary reason I enjoyed the movie. Apparently I need to fill in one more line to get this onto the site so here it is.