On the Big Board |
Position |
Staff |
In Brief |
2/85 |
Kim Hollis |
I was bummed that the soundtrack wasn't immediately available on iTunes. A movie you shouldn't miss. |
13/166 |
David Mumpower |
Terrence Howard is a revelation, plain and simple. Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, D.J. Qualls (!) and Taraji P. Henderson are all almost as good. The best acting ensemble performance of 2005. |
Djay (Terrence Howard) is a hardworking pimp who is going through a midlife crisis. Generally, he sits around in his parked Chevy just ruminating on life and his particular place in it. Although he's a good pimp, he and his girls seem to make only enough to get by. Ultimately, Djay's real dream is to become a popular rapper and get his "flow" recorded for posterity.
Soon, he finds that his dream might have a chance if he can just pull off a scheme that requires exquisite timing. Arnel (Isaac Hayes) informs Djay that a local rapper who has become a big-time mogul named Skinny Black (Ludacris) is coming to town for the July 4th holiday. Djay agrees that he will set Skinny up with some outstanding weed.
After selling a keyboard to get the money to buy the weed, Djay runs into an old friend from high school named Key (Anthony Anderson). Key records church choirs, and Djay believes that this encounter is no coincidence. He convinces Key to help him record his flow so that they can create a demo to get to the mogul. Key enlists the assistance of white piano prodigy Shelby (DJ Qualls), who brings along his beat machine. Along with Shelby, Djay's girls also get into the act, with one of them singing the hooks and the other turning tricks to provide the financing.
Will Djay be able to even convince Skinny to give his master work a listen? And will he be able to stay out of trouble (and jail) throughout the process? (Kim Hollis/BOP)
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