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CINEMA SEEN - "Hustling for the Flow!" By William Margold I guess that it’s fitting for the Labor Day holiday issue of my column to be completely dedicated to the single motion picture released during the summer of 2005 that essentially became my very persistent “labor of love”--- writer/director Craig Brewer’s supremely satisfying, soul-stirring HUSTLE AND FLOW (Paramount Classics). But let’s go back to even before the beginning of this story. In May, I saw a rather compelling film called “Crash”…and was quite impressed with the performance by Terrence Howard (writing “this man has ‘star quality’ written all over his face). I looked forward to seeing more of him, without realizing that, in fact, he was the star of “Hustle and Flow.” Through my film-reviewing associate Brian (“Movie Reviews & More”) Sebastian, I was given a flyer listing upcoming screenings of “Hustle and Flow.” In mid-June, I saw the film in the old-fashioned Paramount Studios screening room, whose overstuffed chairs have (over 37 years of film-reviewing) become friends to my aging hindquarters. I was absolutely “blown away” by the raw passion of Brewer’s work. And I was even more absolutely taken with the painful beauty of Mr. Howard’s gut-grinding performance, as he strives to rise from his life as a minor league Memphis street hustler/pimp (with a very small stable---“only three bitches”), to becoming a rap performer, which of course may well be the paradoxically comedic yet deadly serious symbiotic force that causes his passion to yearn as well as burn. It’s all about providing. Let’s just say that in order to understand what the bite of life feels like you’ve got to be chewed on a little bit. So I guess that it helps to live a little “off-color” to be “colorful”…if you know what I mean. I staggered out of the theater feeling like I had been smacked in my nervous system by a sledgehammer. “Hustle and Flow” is not a comfortable film going experience. Quite frankly, I had just been brilliantly beaten up- and-down the ladder of humanity (and at times, inhumanity) by Brewer. However, I proclaimed to all those who would listen, and even to those who wouldn’t, that “Hustle and Flow” was “Saturday Night Fever” for the modern ear…and era!” BUT…before I was going to ride my self-created bandwagon onto a Cinema Seen page, I wanted to make sure about the lifestyles presented in Brewer’s creation. So I contacted a gentle-fellow named Rick Stone (whose fried chicken may well be the death of me), and whose multi-layered (and talented) background has, for lack of better words, “been very colorful,” and I took him to see the film. He was VERY impressed. And said, “yes, that’s the way it is.” BUT…I still wasn’t sure. So I lured my New York Yankee fanatic buddy and redoubtable LAXPRESS columnist Joey Alkes (a member of the highly praised DJ Monkey performance art hip-hop/rap group) to see “Hustle and Flow” at my favorite movie theater---The Bridge in Culver City. Ritualistically, I always park on the roof overlooking The Bridge, and from that windblown vantage viewpoint (which has become my “den of tranquility”), I listened to Joey effuse about the film’s “validity” and “genuine power.” NOW…I was sure! And so…this page reflects my “labor of love” regarding a film by Craig Brewer that should be reckoned with, in many categories, come Oscar-nomination time, starting, of course, with Mr. Howard, whose manner of presentation conjures up images of high-grade maple syrup being slowly poured onto satin sheets (Best Actor), an evocative Taraji P. Henson (Best Supporting Actress), as well as in the writing and directing groups for Brewer himself. And maybe, just maybe, if enough people “are moved by the message”---the film itself just might make to the Final Five. Which is what “having a dream” is all about. end NOTE: Originally published in LA Xpress, September 1, 2005 issue. |