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Patti Cake$ (2017), R, ★★★


Another movie about the passion for a creative hobby or a potential career? Ok. But, this movie works because of the way this story is being handled even though I have seen this story before about people wanting to create music and produce it to another level. However, this movie is about a character that is trying to make ends meet, sort of like 8 Mile and Hustle and Flow, but you are rooting for the character to do well. Even though I have listened to the same beats from other songs, this song here (or movie) is balanced well between realism and fantasy that you can give this the benefit of the doubt. The movie is crowd-pleasing.

Patricia Dombrowski (Danielle Mcdonald) is a 23-year-old New Jersey woman struggling to support herself and her mom and her grandmother (Bridget Everrett and Cathy Moriarty) after her father has left them. The bills are piling up and Patricia is being made fun of because of her weight. She meets her best friend, Hareesh aka Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay) at the pharmacy as she picks up her grandmother's pills. They both dreams of becoming rap superstars, and they usually spit up rhymes via rapping. Patti is attracted to the shop owner's son, Danny (McCaul Lombardi), as he hands them a flyer to attend an upcoming rap show.

Barb, Patricia's mother, is an alcoholic who used to be a famed singer as she makes Patti give out free shots to her mom. Patti asks her boss for a raise and more hours, but he cannot give her that as he refers her to a catering manager as he replies she will be on a waiting list until she gets the call. She and Jheri go to the rap show as they witness a person being booed off stage. Patti meets David and some boys outside of a gas station, in a good scene, in which they exchange humiliating rap rhymes to each other. As officer Nickel arrives (Wass Stevens), he notices Patti with her head bleeding as he sees her ID, he tells her that Barb should give him a call. Patti and Jheri tries to get a gig to rap her own lyrics as they want to get some opportunity to be somebody.


I liked it but I do not fully think it is one of the most re-watchable movies I'll see but I like this movie because of how fully fleshed the characters are and how realistic how entering the world of rap music can be. If not much talent, it will eat you up alive and make you depressed. But, in the New Jersey culture, its tone and setting matches with the main character's point in life real well as she wants to get out of that pit and become better not just for herself, but her family and reputation. It also balances the comedy and drama well that is both inside Patti's family circle and also in her circle of friends as she tries to make a name for herself. There is a redeeming factor in Patti's mother's story as she also wants to now set aside her ego and make room for her daughter's upbringing of being a potential rap star.

Danielle Macdonald is fascinating in this movie as she carries this movie well and it is not easy in one of your first starring roles. You sympathize and you feel for character as she is trying to overcome the obstacles in both her working and personal lives. Her performance will be one of the most underrated performances of the year and she is a bright light that casting directors should look at. There are poignant moments between her and both Everrett and Moriarty that are quite nice. There is also a nice seemingly romantic subplot between Patti and Basterd played by Mamoudou Ahtie that plays a factor into at the story and the setting. Also, Siddharth Dhananjay is quite great as her best friend.

Director Jeremy Jasper makes his sensational debut as he makes original and creative angles onto a familiar story with much positivity, enlightenment but also horrible reality to a person that does not deserve it. There are moments that reminded me of 8 Mile that felt familiar but also a few moments that reminded me of, get ready for it, Rocky that wants you to root for her character, even though its ending, not to give it away, is quite similar but you are happy for Patti in the end and that she will be all right. It is a rap version of Rocky that will you smiling after finishing this movie. It's a good movie.

***


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