Salvation sagas work best when we’re convinced that the person getting the benefit of a second chance deserves it.
In production notes for “Hustle & Flow,” lead character Djay is labeled a “hustler.” That’s a bit coy. The thirtysomething Memphis, Tenn., resident is a pimp and a penny-ante marijuana peddler.
While he may not be particularly accomplished at either trade, this is his résumé at the start of Memphis writer-director Craig Brewer’s breakthrough feature. And thanks to the deliberately desperate work of Terrence Howard, Djay has a better than good chance of winning over the audiences as he begins his quest to become a rapper.
As “Hustle & Flow” begins, Djay is sitting in his battered Detroit dinosaur with the shiny rims philosophizing about “man.” Man as in humankind, he clarifies. But also man as in “men are dogs.”
He’s scratched out a living exploiting the latter. But Djay has arrived at the age at which his father died. The anniversary has brought on a midlife crisis.
Nola (Taryn Manning) is his audience of one. He asks the young blond hooker with the braided hair what she wants to do with her life. Before she can answer, he’s theorizing again.
Nola and Djay’s relationship is the film’s richest – and knottiest. Their economic-emotional co-dependence keeps posing the question: Where does exploitation end and fondness begin?
Brewer avoids resolving that dilemma, and his film is truer for the ambiguities.
Djay’s epiphany comes by way of a chance encounter with Key (Anthony Anderson), a former high school acquaintance who mixes sound and has his own unrealized music biz dreams. That – coupled with the news that former Memphis citizen turned best-selling hip-hop artist Skinny Black (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) is coming to town and needs some quality weed – sets Djay on his path. He’ll make a demo for Skinny.
His desire for deliverance is sealed at a gospel recording session in Key’s church.
Even if you don’t like crunk, the Southern subgenre of hip-hop coursing through this film, you may find yourself stuck on songs that showcase Djay’s raw talent.
One is “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp,” which gets its hook when pregnant prostitute Shug (Taraji P. Hensen) delivers some tentative, then soaring, notes to the track Djay, Key and keyboardist Shelby (DJ Qualls) are laying down in a makeshift soundroom.
“Hustle & Flow” is as thick with fine performances as Memphis’ air is dense with humidity. Manning and Henson give aching performances as damaged working girls with unformed dreams. And it’s good to see comedian Anderson dialed down for maximum effect. When he tells Djay “just because you have the bacon, lettuce and tomato, don’t mean you get my toast,” it’s not stand-up banter. It’s the comment of a man protecting his own right to hope.
When club owner Arnel (Memphis soul legend Isaac Hayes) tells Djay that best-seller Skinny Black is returning home, Djay’s curiosity is piqued: “Platinum? That’s more special than gold, right?”
It’s the cumulative effect of moments like this that makes “Hustle & Flow” and its rough characters worthy of a listen. Hope is in the details.
Brewer’s characters reveal – in what some might consider their ignorance – a lot of rich yearning.
Some find Brewer’s characters and their aspirations old-fashioned. But with its “hooptie” rides, its rows of shotgun houses, its startling meeting of black and white folk, “Hustle & Flow” is more than that.
Djay and Co. may have universal aches, but Memphis is not just any place. And location can still flavor our identities.
A pimp with a heart of gold and dreams of platinum-selling albums? Some critics feel that liking this film about a pimp gone good (sort of) makes you an easy mark for a different sort of hustle.
But if you go with the flow of raw but crafted performances, you can still learn a thing or two about American dreaming.
Film critic Lisa Kennedy can be reached at 303-820-1567 or lkennedy@denverpost.com.
“Hustle & Flow”
***
R for sex and drug content, pervasive language and some violence|1 hour, 57 minutes|DRAMA|Written and directed by Craig Brewer; photography by Amelia Vincent; starring Terrence Howard, Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Taraji P. Henson, Paula Jai Parker, Elise Neal, Isaac Hayes, D.J. Qualls and Ludacris|Opens today at area theaters
