PARK CITY – Small town underdog looking to make it in the music business isn’t exactly the most original idea for a movie. And throwing in a hip-hop angle is familiar territory even at Sundance (see 2005’s “Hustle & Flow”). It’s a huge credit to writer and director Geremy Jasper then that “Patti Cake$,” which debuted at the 2017 edition of the festival on Monday, breaks through that familiar convention with flying colors.
The movie begins and ends with Patricia Dombrowski, a.k.a. Killa P, a.k.a. Patti Cake$ who is played by relative newcomer Danielle Macdonald. Patti is a 23-year-old trying to survive in a working class New Jersey town. She gazes across the Huston River to the skyline of Manhattan dreaming of a better life (granted, a common movie trope), a dream that will come to life when she makes it as a big time hip-hop star. We quickly learn that between her jobs as a bartender in a dive bar or a more lucrative catering gig she’s writing lyrics and taking her skills to the street where she’s not afraid to enter a rap battle versus a neighborhood crush, Danny (McCaul Lombardi, pulls it off). Life keeps dragging her down whether its trying to help pay for medical bills for her Nana (Cathy Moriarty, scene-stealer extraordinaire) or a difficult relationship with a semi-alcoholic mother (Bridget Everett, fantastic) who is still haunted by musical aspirations of her own that never went anywhere.
What keeps Patti going is her best friend, pseudo-manager and on stage side kick Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay, talented) who believes in her more than anyone else. When she discovers the mysterious anarchist musician Basterd (Mamoudou Athie, solid) has a recording set up in his cabin in the woods (go with it) Patti convinces him to help her record a few tracks as the group PBNJ (Nana makes a cameo) for an old school CD in hopes of getting some exposure. The songs are “dope,” but, as we all know, nothing is ever going to work out exactly like she thinks it will. Especially when she gets the unexpected chance at meeting one of her idols, a rap legend known as OZ (Sahr Ngaujah, convincing).
Eventually a connection surprises Patti with a chance to perform at a big league Rookie contest with none other than OZ in attendance. Will PNBJ slay the crowd? Will Patti find a way to truly bond with her mother? You know the answers the second the questions are suggested, but Jasper pushes all the right buttons and, more importantly, knows he’s pushing those buttons and confidently justifies it. Sort of incredible considering it’s his feature debut.
It’s hard to equate what a star-making turn this is for Macdonald. The audience at the film’s world premiere gave an audible gasp when she answered her first question because no had a clue she was Australian let alone not American. In a movie like this filmmakers often have to convince the audience an actor playing a musician, singer or, in this case, rapper are as good as the story says there are. At no point in “Patti Cake$” is there ever a hint that Macdonald is unable to legitimately rap. She’s simply a revelation.
Next to Macdonald and Jasper’s vision a movie of this ilk cannot work without the music being, for lack of a better word, lit. Jasper, a former member of the ban The Fever, and music producer Jason Binnick wrote 19 original songs for the film (there are 31 overall including at least two Bruce Springsteen tracks). The picture never pretends some of them aren’t good and the standouts “PBNJ” and “Tuff Love (PBNJ)” do what great songs in movie musicals are supposed to do, move the story along and take the story to cinematic heights. [B+]
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