Craig Brewer is a cupid of lost souls, aiming his arrow at the desperate and morally bankrupt, then daring us to love them. In "Hustle Flow," the Memphis-based filmmaker tethered our hearts to a Memphis pimp who often displayed a less than gallant regard for his employees, One could credit many gifts to Samuel L. Jackson and Christina Ricci, the bruising stars of Brewer's audacious new drama, but charm would not be No.
1 on my list. Indeed, Brewer works overtime in the first third of his film trying For "Black Snake Moan," Brewer returns to the other side of Memphis' tracks, where produce farmer Lazarus (Jackson) and trailer trash Rae (Ricci) are reeling from the departure of their respective lovers. After his wife leaves him for his younger brother, the God-loving Lazarus exhumes his long-buried talent for singing the blues, but not before raging at his goes off to boot camp, she reverts to her nymphomaniacal habits.
Rae's self-punishing, if selective, promiscuity puts her on the wrong side of half-naked on a road, where she is rescued the next morning by Lazarus. Brewer sets us up for a stock tale of mutual redemption, but what we get is a horse of a very twisted color. After doing a quick study on Rae's wild nature, Lazarus commits himself to cleaning up her act, a seemingly selfless It's an outrageous bit of role-bending on the part of Brewer, who blithely tramples our associations with slavery, chain gangs and antebellum anxieties surrounding black men and white women.
Rae, hardly a racist, still holds the old Deep South to her breast, quite literally: a Dixie flag is emblazoned to her halter top. But she's too inured against the abuse of men to belabor anger at her jailer/protector, and she soon gives herself over to Lazarus' In case there is any doubt over Lazarus' sincerity, Brewer throws in the seeds of true romance, via a local pharmacist (a warm turn by S. Epatha Merkerson) with an eye for the musical farmer.
Add to the mix a dollop of farce police writing summonses for weeks, if not years, to come. But there is no doubting his affection for his characters, his leading players (both are just To see photos from "Black Snake Moan" or "Zodiac," go to newsday.com/movies amusing tale of redemption, spilling over with blues music and southern-fried Timberlake and John Cothran.
1:56 (strong sexual content, language, some violence and drug use). At area theaters.
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