Hustle and Flow

Craig Brewer, USA, 2005, 116 minutes

”It's hard out there for a pimp”- everybody knows that but for DJay it's the everyday life. He lives in a schack in Memphis and dreams about becoming a rap-star while pimping his girls in the backstreets and dealing drugs to shady customers. One day he meets a schoolfriend, who sort of works in showbusiness – he records church singers, conferences and knows at least how a microphone works. This sudden opportunity awakes DJay's creative unrest and gives him a chance to make his dream come true.

”Hustle and flow” is a hillarious film-the first ”gangsta comedy” that offers intelligent humor instead of Wayans-brothers-like cheap jokes about weed, guns and masturbation. Subtle irony about the icons of MTV and show business follows real-life scenes of someone, who all these stars pretend to be – a P.I.M.P. This life is no fairy tale but it could be if Djay manages to swap roles.

The film obviously has an excelent soundtrack and music-video-like filming style plus a lot of gangsta and nigga talking (the dinner scene at Key's house is a classic). ”Hustle and flow” is not one of these films suitable only for rap lovers. On the contrary, I'm sure everybody will appreciate its irony and humanistic touch brought in by the excelent characters. Check it out dawgs!

Review by Jan Naszewski
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2006