RojoHustle and Flow
Like many movies out there I neglected this one. Why I don’t know, people would tell me that this movie is great and something in me switches to neglect mode.
I am stoked that I finally bypassed this switch with regards to Hustle and Flow. Terrence Howard deserving of his Oscar nod is a little slow to get started, (as is the film). If I didn’t already know that this film was going to be good I would only keep watching it just because I had started. His way of specking had me thinking so he prepared for this role listening to a lot of Tela albums, but it didn’t take long for him to grow on me as the did the story.
The one man struggle bit is frequent in film. Why? Because done well it kicks ass. Example The Woodsman, I mean a paedophile and I was rooting for him, come on. A pimp and I’m saying “fuck yeah, whip that trick”.
DJ Qualls has become my “hey it’s that guy” he’s taken over from Frank Whaley and Luis Guzman. The reason they have all become “that guy” is because I remember them, their performance gives weight to the saying “there are no small parts only small actors”. Qualls plays his nerdy geeky self that he came dangerously close to being type casted, but there is more to his character, where as before he would appear uncomfortable with his surroundings only to adapt and win us over, he appears totally at easy walking into a pimps crib, hookers smoking dope before him and a threatening pimp accusing him of being a brash Mormon. He won me over from the start.
So the cast did there parts, (Ludicrous I like better as an actor than a rapper), but they were able to because of such a beautifully written script. Yes it was formulaic but it has a lot of character, it was one mother-fucking charming pig.
Finally the soundtrack. Now I must say I’m a fan of hip-hop, big fan have been for nearly 15 years but the style that predominately makes up the soundtrack I’m not so enamoured with. It has always been to me, well, pimps rhyming about there days. Misogynistic lyrics with production that I don’t like. But there’s something with how this genre of rap is used that makes it an amazing compliment to this film. Against the not so gritty backdrop the music becomes so much more likable. A "hood"film that should be considered a classic in its division.
8/10
