Hustle & Flow (2005) is a satisfying film about rap music. No, don’t worry if you don’t care much for rap, there is much more to that.
Djay is a pimp, but he has a lot to say, and music is how he does it. He writes lyrics just like King writes novels. He has a producer and background voice. All he has to do is bring his demo to a rapper who already made it.
As you can imagine the songs are really good, you can feel the rythm in them. And you can also witness how a song is born, grown and finalized into a hit; the whole creative process.
But the musical story is only part of it. I was surprised by the caring relationship between Djay and Nola (one of his prostitutes). As he puts it “they’re like brothers”. A very deep and true relationship that has nothing to do with sex or even love. Djay also falls in love with his other prostitute, and you can also see how they really love each other, even though they were “working” together.
All the musical parts are highly enjoyable, and there is no stage performance with audience cheering or anything like that. This is more gritty and realistic. And in that vein, the ending in also unexpected. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but I really loved it, it seemed to go in one direction when you think you might not be satisfied, but then it does satisfy you. It’s hard to explain it without spoiling it, so just check it out on DVD.
Rating: 3 Stars