Sunday, January 29, 2006

Layman move review: HUSTLE & FLOW



God damn! This movie was so good I almost forgot to get pissed off about it. I mean, it was excellent. Just really, really good, maybe the best movie I've seen all year. At least the best that I can recall off-hand (that this was so good it makes it that much more egregious that a piece of crap like Cinderella Man gets mentioned in the same breathe as the Oscars.) Terrance Howard, who was part of an extraordinary enselmble in Crash, was even better here. Anthony Anderson was good, too, and Ludacris, and the skinny sad white chick that played the Howard character's primary "ho." But the chick that played the pregnant ho girlfriend was just spectacular, as she her character develops self-confidence and a sense of purpose throught the course of the movie. Like I said, I can't think of a better movie I've seen that this (at least, one made in 2005,) and I'm giving it my highest recommendation.

Of course, the parallels between myself and the character D-Jay was what make truly this movie so powerful and vital. Slappin' bitches, dealing yay, whooping tricks, keeping away from 5-0... it's like this film held a mirror to the Early Life of John Layman and captured it on film. Rarely have a seen a movie where thug life of my early days on the street was captured with such eerie accuracy, without glorifying or glamorizing it.

Kids, I'm not a role model. I'm not a hero. And you don't want to be like me. Sometimes bitch gots to get slaps. And sometimes Layman gots to buss a cap in a motherfucker. I'm not saying it's the right thing to do. But it's real, man... and that's my life.

Don't judge me.

1 comment:

N. J. Pozner said...

When are you going to help Mike Ness write the next great Social Distortion album?