 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Hustle & Flow
- R
- Genre: Drama
- 2005
Common Sense Media says
This movie is for adults only.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that the movie, focused on the efforts of a pimp trying to change his life, features explicit references to sex and prostitution (as well as scenes in a strip club). Characters use harsh language, smoke, drink, do drugs, have sex, and fight with one another, on occasion drawing blood. Women wear scanty clothing.
What's the story?
DJay (Terrence Howard) is a Memphis pimp who is imaging a world beyond his own. When DJay gets hold of an old Casio keyboard, he's inspired to make music, specifically, to express himself through hip-hop. And so he tries to make a demo tape, with the help of sound engineer Key (Anthony Anderson) and church pianist/vending machine stocker Shelby (DJ Qualls), who brings his beat machine. They spend hours and hours putting together a couple of tracks, "Whoop That Trick" and "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp." DJay delivers his tape to a rap artist, Skinny Black (Ludacris), when he comes by a local bar (the owner played by Isaac Hayes) one evening. Resilient in his ignorance, posing like a proud, tough guy, he can't escape the fact that he has a sense of history and context.
Is it any good?
Perceptive and provocative, HUSTLE & FLOW focuses on the limits and excesses of a DJay. Even as he's imagining a world beyond his own, however, DJay's vision is limited by immediate needs. Women, he admits to his new girl, Nola (Taryn Manning), are like men, not dogs, with aspirations and needs. Craig Brewer's first film doesn't hold back from showing DJay's gritty side: he's selfish, short-sighted, and angry, selling dirt-weed and living in a one-floor shack with his girls; in addition to Nola, the household includes lapdancer Lexus (Paula Jai Parker), her young son, and the very pregnant Shug (Taraji P. Henson).
The women are caught up in stereotypical roles, arguing with or supporting their man, who in turn sells their bodies to any creep with $20. But the actors bring depth, detail, and poetry to these character outlines. When Shug describes a recent nightmare (in which she gives birth to a dog, then finds herself "breastfeeding a big old catfish"), she thinks it through and concludes it's because of her fear of the unknown, a fear afflicting everyone in the house.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about the obstacles DJay tries to overcome, including poverty and lack of education. How are his ideas shaped by media images (music videos, news)? How does music help him gain another perspective on his life? How is this pimp and drug dealer simultaneously appalling and sympathetic? How does he treat the women around him?
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- Teens & kids
AGE
"Keep hustlin..." and find another movie
The movie tries hard to be philosophical and humane, and in some ways, it succeeds. Great acting by Howard actually draws sympathy and makes you cheer for the pimp by the end (who woulda thunk?)but the movie is still so gritty and raw (along with the script) you might wish you hadn't seen it. And after watching 2 hours of sweaty, sticky hoes and pimps, the only thing you leave with is a catchy song and the feeling that you need to take a shower. and by the way, this movie is definitely NOT for kids...
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AGE
i loved this movie!!!!!!!!!
it was a great movie.i loved it alot.great stuff.great songs.cool actors.alltogether great.i want everyone to see it.not okay for kids but it's still great
-dylan I.young lil illen dylanda mancool dudebestreviewerforkidsi rule45.
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AGE
This hard hitting and gritty movie is definitely not for kids.
Hustle and Flow shocked the living daylights out of viewers and audience members worldwide when in early 2006, it won the Academy Awards for Best Original Song for "It's Hard out here for a Pimp" Now, I know that this was quiet a while ago, already, but I still can't but feel surprised. Not because I didn't like it. I loved it. And not because I didn't think that the song deserved to win. It did, because it's a great song. It's just that, even though 8 Mile won Eminem a Academy Award of "Lose Yourself" in 2003, I still couldn't believe that the suck up Oscar officials would actually recognize talent like this, and I am thankful that they did. But, parents be warned, this is a hard R: There is lot's and lot's of strong profanity including many uses of F-ck, Sh-t, D-mn, H-ll, G-dd-mn, C-nt and more. Also, there is the constant theme of prostitution, because the main character is a pimp, and he is surrounded by them throughout the movie, including one very graphic scene in a strip club early on in the movie which displays lot's of bare buttocks and breasts. Also, there is plenty of drug use, where many people smoke marijuana and the main character occasionally also deals weed to customers. Finally,there is infrequent but very strong violence including a brutal beating and shootout at the end of the movie, which amounts in a lot of neighborhood chaos. Well, this Oscar winning movie is certainly not for everyone, but if you can take the mature subject matter, than enjoy
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| Studio: | Paramount Pictures |
| Director: | Craig Brewer |
| Cast: | Taraji P. Henson, Taryn Manning, Terrence Howard |
| Genre: | Drama |
| Run time: | 116 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | July 22, 2005 |
| DVD release date: | January 10, 2006 |
| MPAA rating: | R |
| MPAA explanation: | sex and drug content, pervasive language, and some violence. |
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