Hustle & Flow (2005)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Djay	Terrence Howard	½
Key	Anthony Anderson
Nola	Taryn Manning	½
Shug	Taraji P. Henson
Shelby	D. J. Qualls	½
Skinny Black	Ludacris	½
Lexus	Paula Jai Parker	½
Yevette	Elise Neal
Arnel	Isaac Hayes	½

Review

Craig Brewer strips his characters and settings down as we follow the pimp slash part-time rapper DJay on his quest to break out of his struggling Memphis scene. Hustle & Flow never glorifies, but also never smears the people and places we meet, with Brewer discussing social clashes, intersexual dependency, dreams vs. fame and talent vs. luck. The film is both rich and authentic, even though the plotting isn't cliché-free. Its most impressive asset, however, are the performances. Terrence Howard's commanding lead is brilliantly winged by the unique support given by Taryn Manning and Taraji P. Henson. The latter was undeniably robbed of an Oscar-nomination. The film's point-of-no-return might be said to be speculative, but there's also no doubt that it maintains a sense of realism, even though the seemingly binary world view can seem a little too negative and constrained.