街角でポン引き（＝ハッスル）をしている男が、かつて抱いていたラッパーへの夢を再燃させる……。チンピラが人生を変えようとラスト・チャンスに賭ける姿を、ヒップホップ・ナンバー満載で綴り上げたサクセス・ドラマ。
AIが作品の魅力を深く読み解いています
製作費: $8,000,000 (12億円)
興行収入: $23,563,727 (35億円)
推定収支: $15,563,727 (23億円)
※製作費・興行収入はTMDBのデータを参照しています。収支は(興行収入 - 製作費)で算出したFindKey独自の推定値であり、広告宣伝費や諸経費は含まれません (1ドル=150円換算)。
監督: Craig Brewer
脚本: Craig Brewer
音楽: Scott Bomar
制作: John Singleton / Dwight Williams / Stephanie Allain
撮影監督: Amy Vincent
制作会社: New Deal Productions / Crunk Pictures / Homegrown Pictures
Terrence Howard really does put his heart and soul into this gritty story of an aspiring man who wants to leave his pimping days behind him and become an hip-hop MC. Living in Memphis, the city has an huge musical tradition but his own personal baggage threatens to drag him down at every opportunity as he tries to attach himself to visiting superstar "Skinny Black" (Ludacris). He knows that this is likely to be his last opportunity to escape the cycle of hopelessness he faces, but can he stay focused, on-course and away from crime long enough to prove his worth? The main characterisation of "Djay" is strongly portrayed here with guts and a degree of viscerally plausible credibility that really works at times. Sadly, though, the bulk of the rest of it resorts to more aggressive and would mouthed stereotyping that reinforces so many pejorative views of how African American men treat each other and the women (and children) in their lives. It's that very sad predictability that rather ruined the potency of Howard's effort here, and by mid-way through I can honestly say I couldn't have cared less whether he succeeded or not. Too many lives had already been ruined by his previous behaviour, so why should he escape the consequences of a vicious circle he had quite an hand in creating? There's plenty for fans of the musical genre to get their teeth into as that offers a boxing-like conduit for those without academic credentials to use their more creative talents to escape their torpor and find hope. It may well resonate more in the USA, but elsewhere it can come across as a story of an unlikeable man who played in the dog-eat-dog world until it no longer suited him, then tried to escape being eaten himself.
