PATTI CAKE$

Plot:

Patti Dombrowski (Macdonald) is a plus sized young woman who in her New Jersey neighborhood is nicknamed Dumbo, a name that she hates. Along with a name she hates she is under financial pressure and trying to work two jobs to help her mom Barb (Everett), a washed up rock singer who is constantly getting boozed up and thinks she is more Patti's sister than her mom, with the bills. She also cares for her ailing grandmother whenever she finds the time to sit with the elderly woman. To maintain her sanity she along with her best friend Jheri (Dhananjay) perform rap battles against rival rappers who are some of the same ones who tease her about her weight. While at a showcase they meet a strange misplaced artist named Basterd (Athie) who they would later recruit and the trio would start a group called PB and J. When a radio personality DJ French Tips (MC Lyte) listened to some of their music, she reaches out to Patti and encourages the group to enter into a rap competition with a jackpot cash prize and recording deal. At the time of the call the group were experiencing some internal differences and must resolve them so that they can come back together for a chance to win the contest.


Reel Talk:

Patti Cake$  is pretty much a female knock off version of  8 Mile. It is not as good as its predecessor. This film is much slower, very predictable and the soundtrack was not as hot as it could have been. Now to say all that does not mean that the film was not good, it just was not as good as 8 Mile. It had some funny moments and for  what it was worth, it was fairly entertaining. The acting was a little stiff, but it was good seeing MC Lyte in a small cameo role. Again they should have really worked on the soundtrack and that would have really helped this movie out. Not a bad movie, it was just OK but, you can really just wait and catch it when you can rent it.

Starring: Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett, Siddharth Dhananjay, Mamoudou Athie, MC Lyte and Sahr Ngaujah
Directed by: Geremy Jasper
Rated: R

I gave it 3 corn dogs.

By: THE REEL HUSTLER