DVD Review

Hustle & Flow (2006)

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GOIN' WITH THE 'FLOW' Manning and Howard

Credits

Release Date: Jul 15, 2005; Rated: R; DVD Release Date: Jan 10, 2006; Genre: Drama; With: Terrence Howard; Distributors: MTV Films and Paramount Pictures

By Kirven Blount

Pimps have been clownified (à la Huggy Bear) or lionized (see Ice-T, Jay-Z, etc.) for so long, they're not even a good Halloween costume anymore. So it's refreshing to watch Terence Howard's simmering performance in Hustle & Flow, wherein he presents pimp/hip-hop hopeful DJay as frustrated and bored by the sex trade. Though writer-director Craig Brewer veers here and there into overly scripted, crowd-pleasing moments (like when one of DJay's ho's finds meaning when asked to provide backup vocals), he manages to make a human out of 50 Cent. EXTRAS A reason to be even more impressed by Howard's transformation: A ''Behind the Hustle'' featurette outs him as a Kenny Rogers fan in real life. Brewer says in his commentary that he was looking to undercut the ''pageantry of a pimp'' and cites William Eggleston, Antonioni, Rocky, Amadeus, Purple Rain, and Taxi Driver as influences (plus, they're all good pimp names).

Posted Jan 06, 2006

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