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91
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Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The home-studio recording sequences in Hustle & Flow are funky, rowdy, and indelible. Brewer gives us the pleasure of watching characters create music from the ground up.
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90
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Washington Post Ann Hornaday
The performances are accomplished, but the real star of Hustle & Flow is Brewer, a playwright who has written and directed a few other movies but who is effectively making a breathtaking national debut here.
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88
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Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
Every good actor has a season when he comes into his own, and this is Terrence Howard's time.
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80
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Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
Unfolds in the satisfying fashion of classic Hollywood movies that strike a balance between grit and heart.
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80
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Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
I found Hustle & Flow hard to get into at first, if only for its dialogue. But DJay's turf turns out to be everyone's turf -- a jagged landscape of hopes, disappointments, folly and fulfillment.
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75
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Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Explosive entertainment.
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75
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San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
So much love went into Hustle & Flow that it almost glows with it.
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75
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USA Today Claudia Puig
The best thing Hustle & Flow has going for it is Terrence Howard's powerful performance.
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70
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Washington Post Desson Thomson
It's more of an urban fairy tale, a surprisingly charming story that -- in certain sections -- almost crystallizes into the sweetness of a Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland musical.
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50
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The New York Times Dana Stevens
This disdain for women is not incidental to the film; it is integral to the fantasy Mr. Brewer is selling, which is that pimping is not as hard as it looks.
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