Unless your Popcorn is laced with Sedatives…

 

   I’d like to thank Johanna Ulett for recommending the film “Hustle & Flow” to me. 

   Hustle & Flow begins as gritty and very raw look at the rough life of a hustler, a small time pimp in the South.

It becomes one of my all time favourites when the Pimp begins to realize that he was cut out for way more than just a life of Hustling.  

   This stunning yet simple realization  moves him and his co-workers (nice use of euphemism there) to go on a Cinderella-like journey 

and involves some moving character studies but really as movie critic Joe Valdez notes ” it succeeds most eloquently as a love poem to 

the power of creativity”.

   “Hustle & Flow has some dark undertones, but they are always overshadowed by the sheer joy of the film’s execution. The musical 

segments in which they create a demo tape are joyous and enlightening, capable of converting the most straight-laced moviegoers into 

lyrical rappers … Unless your popcorn is laced with sedatives, you will find yourself dancing to the beat and singing ‘Whoop that trick’ 

with the rest of them. If only all summer movies could ignite this same level of enthusiasm,” writes Lexi Feinberg at Cinema Blend.

    The ending of the movie is not a particularly happy one but it leaves me very satisfied as it stays real and true to what the artistic 

journey really feels like. 

    Another great show which features amazing acting and has a character in a mid-life crisis is “American Beauty”. 

   

    It’s the tale of Lester Burnham who, like the Terence Howard character,,in Hustle and Flow , decides to change his life. In Lester’s case 

this means quitting his job and begimming to flip burgers and  also lifting weights to attract one of his daughter’s cute school friends.

  The story is full of amazing characters and they all have life changing and shocking stories as the movie unfolds. Where the show 

stands out though is in Lester’s detached observation of his own life. Huis dead pan delivery becomes almost comedic even at the most 

dramatic points of the film. 

 

   ” I guess I could be really pissed off about what happened to me…but it’s hard to stay mad, when there’s so much beauty in the world. 

Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst…and then I 

remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain. And I can’t feel anything but gratitude for 

every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don’t worry… you will someday.”

   Watch these films especially if you can relate to the themes of Mid-Life Crisis and the need to have a Creative Outlet.

 

 

 Watch the films “Hustle and Flow” and “American Beauty” if you can appreciate a great story and great acting and watch them especially if you can relate to the themes of Mid-Life Crisis or understand the need to have a Creative Outlet.  

I’d like to thank Johanna Ulett for recommending the film “Hustle & Flow” to me. 

 

Hustle and Flow.

   Hustle & Flow, starring Terrence Howard, as Deejay, begins as  a gritty and very raw look at the rough life of a hustler, a small time pimp in the South.

  It becomes one of my all time favourites when the Pimp begins to realize that he was cut out for way more than just a life of Hustling.  

 

Even a Pimp can Cry

 

 

   This stunning, yet simple, realization  moves him and his co-workers (nice use of euphemism there) to go on a Cinderella-like journey and involves some moving character studies but really as movie critic Joe Valdez notes ” it succeeds most eloquently as a love poem to the power of creativity”.

 

Music becomes his Dream

 

 

   “Hustle & Flow has some dark undertones, but they are always overshadowed by the sheer joy of the film’s execution. The musical segments in which they create a demo tape are joyous and enlightening, capable of converting the most straight-laced moviegoers into lyrical rappers … Unless your popcorn is laced with sedatives, you will find yourself dancing to the beat and singing ‘Whoop that trick’ with the rest of them. If only all summer movies could ignite this same level of enthusiasm,” writes Lexi Feinberg at Cinema Blend.

 

Cinderella meets the Prince

 

    The ending of the movie is not a particularly happy one, by normal Hollywood standards,  but it leaves me very satisfied as it stays real and true to what the artistic journey really feels like. 

“You know what they say, everybody gotta have a dream,” Deejay says at the end of the film with a smile.

    Another great show which features amazing acting and has a character in a mid-life crisis is “American Beauty”.    

    It’s the tale of  Lester Burnham who, like the Terrence Howard character,,in Hustle and Flow , decides to change his life. In Lester’s case this means quitting his job and beginning to flip burgers and  also lifting weights to attract one of his daughter’s cute school friends.

  The story is full of amazing characters and they all have life changing and shocking stories as the movie unfolds. Where the show stands out though is in Lester’s detached observation of his own life. His totally  dead-pan delivery becomes almost comedic even at the most dramatic points of the film. 

   Lester Burnham, played by Kevin Spacey,  the film’s narrator, summarizes the film and his life thusly, ” I guess I could be really pissed off about what happened to me…but it’s hard to stay mad, when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much, my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst…and then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold on to it, and then it flows through me like rain. And I can’t feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure. But don’t worry… you will someday.”