Hustle and Flow (2005)

"Everybody got to have a dream. You hear me?"

                                                                  - DJay

A movie about a drug dealing pimp trying to make it as a rap star doesn’t sound appealing and it shouldn’t, because that’s lame. Luckily this is not what Hustle and Flow is about. It’s about dreams.

Everybody has a dream, even those of the most despicable corners of society. Why you should see this film, and why it’s incredible, is the gradual shift you feel from despising a guy like DJay to rooting for him. Hard. You’ll watch as DJay treats his prostitute, Nola, like shit. You’ll see him sell drugs. You’ll see him do these things and more and by the third act you’ll want him to succeed in reaching his dream of hip-hop glory. You might even hate yourself for it but you will. The director pulls this off is a number of ways: first, you see DJay work hard at his craft; legitimately, he works at this. We may not all sympathize with him due to the choices he makes, but we can empathize with someone trying hard, struggling and progressing. Secondly, you also see him sacrifice. Finally, and this is my favorite of the director’s methods, the person who stands between DJay and his dream is worse than DJay is. It’s a old but effective trick, placing your unlikable hero in juxtaposition with someone even more unlikable allowing them to shine by default, and it really seals our affection for our drug dealing pimp turned rapper.

All of this is pulled off by a great cast led by Terrence Howard as DJay. It takes a strong performance to help sell an audience on the idea that a character like this is worth investing in. It’s a wise investment on our part and it’s a satisfying pay off.