An unlikely star is born Patti Cake$ (R16)
108 mins ‘‘I’ve got more grills than George Foreman, My life is f…ing awesome.’’
Well at least it is in Patricia ‘‘Dumbo’’ Dombrowski’s (Danielle Macdonald) hip-hop infused fever dreams. The reality is somewhat more depressing.
Living with her Mom and Nan in Berger County, New Jersey, Patti attempts to make ends meet for all three of them by working what shifts she can at a local bar. The worst nights are when her Ma (Bridget Everett) shows up to do some karaoke and drunkenly remind everyone how having Patti ruined her shot at a singing career.
All that keeps Patti going is her friendship with Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay). His beatbox skills and melodies perfectly complement her rhymes, keeping their hopes of escaping Jersey alive. But after a rap battle turns nasty, the pair dial down their expectations until an unlikely and accidental collaboration with an antiestablishment performance artist Bastard the AntIchrist (Mamoudou Athie) and Patti’s Nan (Cathy Moriarty). PBNJ is born and there’s only one way to launch themselves upon the world – a party at the local ‘‘titty bar’’ on the Interstate.
This decade’s Hustle and Flow ,a funnier, female version of 8 Mile, Clerks 2017 – whatever your take on writer-director Geremy Jasper’s feature debut, Patti Cake$ is a riff on the old A Star is Born plot unlike any you will have seen (or heard) before.
Best known as a director of music videos for the likes of Florence and the Machine and Selena Gomez, Jasper does a superb job of mixing seemingly gritty drama with anarchic, subversive humour.
That it not only all works, but contains some truly memorable scenes, is down to the terrific cast of unknowns. - James Croot