Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		2.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Hustle & Flow Blu-ray Movie Review

“Everybody gotta have a dream.”

Reviewed by Dustin Somner May 2, 2009

Released to theaters in 2005, Hustle & Flow has an intriguing production history. Although the film’s subject matter is heavily influenced by hip-hop culture, it was written and directed by Memphis-native Craig Brewer (who went on to direct Black Snake Moan), who’s the last guy you’d expect to be familiar with hip-hop, or the life of a pimp. Brewer shopped his film around Hollywood for over 4 years before he secured independent funding from John Singleton (director of Boyz in the Hood) and his production company Crunk Pictures.

It took the filmmakers a year to convince Terrence Howard to participate in the film as the main character, since he had fears of being typecast as a pimp and running into trouble landing future roles. Howard eventually gave in when he read the script and discovered his role (as D-Jay) was anything but one-dimensional. He saw an opportunity to put his acting chops on display and it ended up being a wise decision, since he went on to be nominated for the “Best Actor” Academy Award (which ended up going to Philip Seymour Hoffman for his performance in Capote).

D-Jay contemplates his life as he soaks up the Memphis scenery.

Full-time drug dealer/pimp D-Jay (Terrence Howard) is fed up with his situation and desperately wants a change from the daily grind of hustling on the streets of Memphis. He remembers a long-forgotten passion one night while playing a small electric keyboard, and decides to pursue his dream of becoming a hip-hop musician. Enlisting the aide of Key (Anthony Anderson), a long-time friend who’s life is on a more responsible track, and Shelby (DJ Qualls), a sound-mixer from Key’s church, the three unlikely men set out to create a demo tape based on D-Jay’s lyrics about the life of a hustler, in the hopes that D-Jay can market his tracks to Skinny Black (Ludacris), a successful rapper that made his start in Memphis. Will D-Jay be able to overcome his modest roots and realize his dream, or will the consequences of his choices doom him to a life of hip-hop obscurity?

Hustle & Flow isn’t the rags to riches story I was expecting when I sat down to watch this film. There’s no meteoric rise to power, no mansion on the hill and no entourage of beautiful women carrying champagne bottles at the conclusion of this film. Instead, we have a tale of one man’s attempt to crawl out of the underbelly of society, and claim something he never thought was within his reach. For all the attention Hustle & Flow received since it’s release, I expected a lot more. Perhaps I had a tough time associating with the plight of D-Jay, but I found his character to be manipulative and repulsive throughout a large portion of the film and I’m afraid that killed any feelings of sympathy as the story played out. I’m sure there are plenty of folks out there that feel differently, and I don’t intend to step on any toes, but I still have to be honest that I found the film a little difficult to appreciate without a main character to root for. I know there’s an argument for D-Jay being a victim of circumstance, but I can’t fathom a set of circumstances that would bring me to act the way he does toward the women he pimps, or those he calls his friends. He has his moments where a glimmer of goodness shines through, but that is typically followed by either an angry tirade, or a display of disrespect toward those he should care about most.

Regardless of how you feel about the film itself, the acting is top-notch, with Terrence Howard demonstrating precisely why he earned an Academy Award nomination for this performance. D-Jay is a complex character, but Howard handles the subtle nuances with perfection. Toward the end of the film, there’s a scene where D-Jay is faced with a decision to make a bold move with Skinny Black, or allow himself to give up and creep back into the black hole of a life he has lived thus far. The intensity from Howard is remarkable, and the entire scene is enough to give you goose bumps. Although Howard is the real star of this film, we are treated to equally impressive performances from the supporting cast as well. I’ve never been a fan of Anthony Anderson (I cringed when I heard he would be joining “Law & Order”), but he manages to turn in a decent performance in his struggle between living a boring yet successful life, or flirting with a deeper association with the likes of D-Jay. The female cast members are also a real treat, but I was especially impressed with Taryn Manning’s role as Nola. Her role may not be as dynamic as Howard’s, but her ability to convey the emotional rollercoaster of being a prostitute is spot-on. She’s both powerful and vulnerable (sometimes within the same scene), and I found it easier to sympathize with her character versus D-Jay.

Hustle & Flow Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

If your curious how far Paramount has come with their Blu-ray transfers, this early release will serve as an example of how low the bar was originally set. Presented in 1080p, using the AVC codec (at a healthy bitrate of 32 MBPS), Hustle & Flow is a huge disappointment on Blu-ray. Nearly every scene is covered in a blanket of grain that blurs fine detail. I hoped the grain would diminish as the film played out, but it remained pervasive from start to finish. Aside from the lack of detail, color appeared natural and blacks were sufficiently deep. Shadow detail was subpar in nighttime sequences and even some daytime shots in D-Jay's makeshift studio had some severe unresolved blacks. For instance, if you look at the stack of black audio components behind Key in one of the later scenes, you can't make out definition on the face of the components, and it basically looks like a black block. I'm sure the director intended to give the film a gritty feel, but I highly doubt the original intention is properly displayed on this transfer. I've never seen this film on DVD, but most viewers likely won't see much of a difference between this transfer and the standard definition version.

Hustle & Flow Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, the audio track for Hustle & Flow is quite good for a non-lossless mix. My appreciation of hip-hop is hit-and-miss, but the songs on the Hustle & Flow soundtrack are spectacular from start to finish. Three 6 Mafia's song "It's Hard out Here for a Pimp" went on to win the 2005 Academy Award for "Best Original Song", and it's easy to appreciate why. From the opening credits, the bass-heavy audio track will pound your senses with rhythm that's not merely centered in the front channel. It's still more personal than an arena show, but has the same enveloping feel you'd expect from an actual concert. Aside from the excellent music reproduction, I was also impressed with the use of ambient noise to bring life to the streets of Memphis. Whether it's the low rumble of an approaching car, or the faint sound of a fan, environmental effects are nicely incorporated in the surround field to draw the viewer in. The only thing that kept me from giving the track a higher score, was the dialogue. Next to the other sound effects in the movie, the dialogue seemed a bit muffled and indistinct at times. I'd assume a lossless track could have improved the situation somewhat (by providing additional clarity), but the main culprit was a lack of volume here and there.

It's hardly worth mentioning, but I was a little distracted by the polished audio during the scenes in the film where D-Jay was laying down his tracks. This was purely a filmmaker decision (and you can't fault the audio track for that), but the transition from natural sounding dialogue to crisp vocals in the music didn't seem realistic. It was a little jarring to this viewer, but I understand it would have been difficult for the filmmakers to include a rough recording and a polished version at different points in the film.

Hustle & Flow Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All of the supplemental features on the disc are presented in 480p, with Dolby Digital 2.0 channel audio (with the exception of the trailers, which are presented in 1080p).

Behind the Hustle (27:19 min): This behind-the-scenes feature focuses on several intriguing aspects of the film, and includes interviews with most of the key actors and those involved in it's creation. This is actually a really fun feature, and includes a number of interesting tidbits (such as Terrence Howard's favorite musical artists being John Mayer and Kenny Rogers). Everyone has a lot of passion for the film, and it really shows through in this feature.

By Any Means Necessary (14:39 min): Craig Brewer (director) is the main star of this feature, which looks at the struggle he went through to get his first feature film made.

Creatin' Crunk (13:41 min): The director and composer discuss the talent they enlisted to complete the music for the film.

Memphis Hometown Premiere (4:52 min): this brief supplement takes us to the film premiere in Memphis as we see the stars arrive to hordes of excited fans.

Paula Jai Parker Audition (2:46 min): A scantily clad Parker performs one of her more difficult scenes in the film. It's easy to see why she landed the role.

Ludacris and Terrence Howard Rehearsal (2:22 min): As the title of the feature implies, the two actors prep for a scene near the film's conclusion. Howard seems like a soft-spoken guy in real life, and it's pretty difficult to hear what he's saying in this run-through.

Scene Extensions (5:31 min): Two scenes are shown in their original form, and then presented in a second (extended) example as written in the original script, and spoken by the respective actors in a rehearsal session around a table.

"It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp"-Acoustic Version: One of the lesser actors performs a rough acoustic rendition of the song featured in the film. He's upbeat, and everyone seems to get a real kick out of what he did with the song.

Lastly, we have a promotional spot, and two theatrical trailers.

Hustle & Flow Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hustle & Flow is difficult for me to recommend, but I can still appreciate it's value as a character study. Given the film's popularity with the majority of critics, I'd imagine I'm going against popular opinion in not giving this a recommendation, but I'm going to stick to my guns and say this is something you will want to rent before you buy. I can't imagine the majority of people choosing to watch the film more than once, but a rental would be a good way to decide that for yourself. From a technical standpoint, this is clearly a disappointing presentation. Fans of the film may feel cheated if they purchase this on Blu-ray (unless you can get it at a budget price), which is all the more reason to go the rental route instead of a purchase.