Hustle & Flow (2005)
Directed by Craig Brewer
With help from his friends, a Memphis pimp in a mid-life crisis attempts to become a successful hip-hop emcee.
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In quick succession we're introduced to FBI Agents Donald Carruthers (Ray Liotta, "Goodfellas") and Richard Messner (Ryan Reynolds, 2005's "The Amityville Horror"), dispatched by FBI Deputy Director Stanley Locke (Andy Garcia, "Ocean's Twelve") to protect Aces so he can turn state's evidence; hit woman booker Loretta Wyman (Davenia McFadden, "American Gun") sends lethal lesbians Georgia Sykes (singer Alicia Keys), the catnip, and Sharice Watters (Taraji P. Henson, "Hustle & Flow"), the firepower; Darwin (Chris Pine, "Just My Luck"), Jeeves (Kevin Durand, "Walking Tall") and Lester Tremor (Maury Sterling) are chainsaw-wielding, mad-cap Road-Warrioresque neo-Nazis while torture specialist Pasquale Acosta (Nestor Carbonell) and 'Mission Impossible-style' master of disguise Lazlo Soot (Tommy Flanagan, 2006's "When a Stranger Calls" hark from overseas.
Henson, who played the pregnant prostitute in Hustle & Flow, is the movie's strongest dramatic presence, and Jason Bateman, as a degenerate, self-loathing lawyer, provides the funniest two-and-a-half minutes (is there anything Jason Bateman doesn't make funnier?).
Among the shooters: singer Alicia Keys, in a counter-intuitive but not-embarrassing film debut as a tarted-up killer with a female sniper partner (Taraji Henson from "Hustle & Flow"); a trio of crazy neo-Nazis; and a master of disguise (Tommy Flanagan).
In a hotel across the way, the fabulous Taraji P. Henson (that singing hooker from "Hustle & Flow") sits behind one of the biggest guns I've ever seen.
The most outstanding performance not involving latex is actually the one by Taraji P. Henson – who is best known as the hooker that sang the hook on “It’s Hard Out There for a Pimp” in “Hustle & Flow” – as Benjamin’s adoptive mother, Queenie.
Unlike Fitzgerald’s short story, in this Fincher version, Benjamin is raised not by his doting mother, but by Queenie played well by Taraji Henson (remember her from “Hustle & Flow”).
But prior to the audition, the film’s casting director already had her in mind based on Henson’s 2005 performance in “Hustle & Flow”.
Like Hustle & Flow (2005) and, to some extent, his Footloose (2011) remake, this film’s at its best when it focuses on the music and the dog-eared ambition of those trying to fulfil their musical dreams.
Writer-director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan)…
As his filmography shows, music has been quite a large part of his work, leading to projects like "Hustle & Flow," a remake of "Footloose," and the documentary "Katy Perry: Part of Me," which brings us to his latest endeavor, "Song Sung Blue," in which a couple tries to make it big as a Neil Diamond tribute band.
It’s a testament to the skills of writer-director Craig Brewer (Hustle & Flow) that the movie brings out such conflicting emotions, with plenty of humor on view as well as ample instances of heartbreak.
…director Craig Brewer (Hustle and Flow, Dolemite is My Name)…
…the man behind “Dolemite Is My Name” and “Hustle & Flow” is, in fact, some white guy from Virginia…
Entre las películas más esperadas (y luego elogiadas) de esta 44ª edición de la inmensa muestra canadiense figuraban los nuevos trabajos de los directores de Good Time: Viviendo al límite con Adam Sandler como protagonista; el regreso de Eddie Murphy de la mano del realizador de Ritmo de un sueño (Hustle & Flow) en una producción de Netflix (se estrenará en la popular plataforma de streaming el 25 de octubre); y el nuevo trabajo de la creadora de The Diary of a Teenage Girl y ¿Podrás perdonarme?
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I was not eager to step into the thicket of accusation, condescension, suspicion, resentment, frustration and miscommunication that surrounds every Hollywood movie about race, especially those set in the South, where the charges of caricature and the counterclaims of authenticity become especially personal and heated, whether the film is an intentional fantasy that uses race as a signifier of struggle and creativity ("Hustle & Flow") or an unconscious fable of white superiority ("The Blind Side").
Oddly, director Craig Brewer ( "Hustle & Flow") has softened the tone for his remake.
Oddly, director Craig Brewer ( "Hustle & Flow") has softened the tone for his remake.
Oddly, director Craig Brewer ( "Hustle & Flow") has softened the tone for his remake.
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Oddly, director Craig Brewer ( "Hustle & Flow") has softened the tone for his remake.
Oddly, director Craig Brewer ( "Hustle & Flow") has softened the tone for his remake.