nine out of ten
Wow. I just finished this movie. Very powerful. The story revolves around a pimp who is looking at his life and wondering where its going. Happenstance leads him to an old middle school friend who could help him record music. In their ghetto they build a makeshift studio and begin recording on a hope that "Skinny Black" a now famous rapper from their hood who returns every year to a particular bar on the fourth of july might listen to his demo tape. Every single hope of this man and his "family" (so to speak) rides upon this hope. This one shot in the dark.
I love movies with depth and character development. Where not everything is all black and white. The movie was about art, and how art can transport you out of your circumstances and give you hope and joy. And on another level I saw some amazing actors showing how beautiful an art acting itself can be.
What was different about this movie that I havent seen in a long time is that it spoke to me. A movie about a hopeful criminal rapper in the hood spoke directly to me and my life which is so different from his. I have dreams too. For me they are as shot in the dark like him. It's hard to realize dreams. Today I was talking to my brother and it hit me, so many people go into law or medicine or X, Y, Z because they can't think of something else they'd rather be doing. I have a few dreams that I have cradled in my heart like DJay but I'm scared like him to make it work, because the odds seem so against you. This movie is inspiring because though a shot at success is not guarunteed for you, on the flip side, a guaruntee of staying on the bottom is not guarunteed either.
I heard a lot of discussion about the fact that the theme song for this movie "Hard out here for a pimp" won an Oscar and how ironic it was that upon the acceptance of the song they said "Thank you Jesus." Thank you Jesus for accepting a song about how difficult life is for a pimp everyone said shaking their heads.... Then I saw the movie and I understood.
"Some people just talk the talk. Others, they walk the walk. Every now and then you'll find someone who walks the walk, and can talk the talk too." - Hustle & Flow
