But neither does the script show DJay as being entirely bad, either, as evidenced by some surprisingly tender, moving scenes between DJay and Key (Anderson) and DJay and Shug, his pregnant woman. It's clear that DJay's made all of his own choices, and the situation he finds himself in - depending on hookers for his livelihood - is of his own doing. Howard, aided by a crisp script from Craig Brewer, who also directed, never portrays DJay as simply a nice guy with some flaws, someone who's been handed a bad hand and is making the best of it. Appearing with Howard in Crash was Ludicrous, who also has a big role in Hustle and Flow - hey, some rappers are very good actors, it turns out. This never feels like a typical rise-and-fall story, and that's thanks in no small part to the powerful performance by Howard, who's much better here than in the critically lauded (by some) Crash. When he obtains the keyboard, inspiration strikes, and a chance encounter with an old classmate (Anthony Anderson) who's now a producer (of sorts) gives DJay the opportunity to jump out of the rotten life he's carved for himself. But the money's not rolling in for DJay, who remains somewhat confident that he'll someday come out ahead. Some dance for an exotic club during the day and hook at night some hook all day. As pimps go, he's not exactly Donald Trump. DJay lives with his small stable of prostitutes in a tumble-down shack in the Memphis ghetto. But it's not as predictable as it may seem at first blush, and Howard is not your typical actor, by any shot. It's not a movie about suffering, success, and redemption, in other words. On its face, this seems like a typical "man rises from the ashes of his hardscrabble life to experience success and then watches it all crash down around him" kind of movie. When he comes into the possession of an electronic keyboard, DJay plays around with it and finds he has a talent for writing and performing hard, violent lyrics. Howard plays DJay, who pimps girls out of his beat-up Chevy Nova. Terrence Howard plays a Memphis pimp who decides to give hardcore rapping a shot in this arresting, gritty drama.
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