It used to be “can a white boy sing the blues,” but now it is “can a white girl rap,” in the Sundance hit PATTI CAKE$. Of course, Patricia Dombrowski, aka Patti Cake$, isn’t a girl any more, she’s a 23-year-old overweight white woman who feels her teenage dream of being a hip-hop star fading away as she remains stuck in lower working-class suburban New Jersey.
PATTI CAKE$ is surprising, endearing, and inspiring film about outsiders, misfits and outcasts but with a women-centric twist. Much of the film’s appeal rests more on the cast performances than its familiar struggling-musician story. As Patti, Australian actress Danielle Macdonald seems like an unremarkable dreamer at first, but Macdonald suddenly transforms when she starts to rap, radiating charisma, intelligence and defiance in equal measures. Even those who are not rap fans while find her energy hard to resist.
The underdog story is familiar but writer/director Geremy Jasper makes it fresh again, in his first feature film. Jasper draws on his own life for parts of the story, adding a feeling of authenticity, and fills it with unique characters while avoiding some familiar music genre plot beats. The former music-video director also provides original songs and music for a tuneful soundtrack.
Blonde-haired Patti has a pretty face but she’s overweight and white, hardly the picture of a rap star. Patti’s best friend calls her Killa P, her mom calls her Patti, but the neighborhood bullies call her Dumbo. She does not internalize the taunts as much as endure them, having heard them all her life. But all that negativity drops away when she is rapping, where she exudes confidence, charisma, vocal power, and an angry, ironic intelligence.
Set in a low-income Jersey suburbia of run-down strip malls, convenience stores, and fast-food restaurants, there is nothing in Patti’s environment to encourage ambition or hope. Patti lives with her bitter hard-drinking mother Barb (Bridget Everett) and wheelchair-bound grandmother Nana (Cathy Moriarty), who struggle to get by on Patti’s income as a bartender at a neighborhood watering hole. Patti gets no encouragement from her boozy mother, a once-promising blues singer disdains hip hop, but she gets support from her best friend and biggest fan Jheri (Siddharth Dhananjay). Jheri’s name tag at the pharmacy where he works may give his name as Rasheen but this South Asian embraces his hip hop identity as passionately as fellow outsider Patti.
None of this looks very encouraging for Patti’s dreams. Hanging out with Jheri, she could easily daydream her life away but Patti feels the pressure to do more. She sees a chance when she meets a shy, nearly non-verbal punk rock musician who goes by the name Basterd (Mamoudou Athie) at a talent contest. Something about his beats and dedication to his art speaks to her and she seeks him out. Together with Jheri and her Nana, they take a shot at musical success.
Patti’s vivid inner life is portrayed in fantasy sequences where she acts out her rapper dreams, fantasies that often feature her favorite rapper, O-Z (Sahr Ngaujah), whose fame and success she hopes to attain.
Patti, Jheri, Basterd and Nana look nothing like typical rappers but their drive to grab a last chance for success and their commitment to each other is infectious. The film is as much about friendship and family as music.
Macdonald’s winning star turn anchors the story, but much of the plot is woman-centric, and strong performances by Bridget Everett and Cathy Moriarty as her mother and grandmother add greatly. Patti has a difficult relationship with her oft-irresponsible mother. Barb. Barb still sometimes belts out tunes at the dive bar where Patti pours drinks, and has a kind of following of old fans from back in the day. Mom often takes out her frustrations on Patti, while also asking her for money, and the parent-child dynamic seems sometimes reversed. But tough, wisecracking Nana provides Patti with the love and encouragement her mother doesn’t.
Jasper’s catchy music, and his skill as a music video director, give the music sequences a gripping energy that grabs even those who are not rap fans.
Music is a big part of this film, which features blues as well as hip hop. Macdonald’s rap sequences are infectious but blues fans will be thrilled with Everett’s soaring, sexy, belted-out blues numbers. The music genre debate forms an interesting backdrop for the story.
PATTI CAKE$ is an irresistible outsider tale with a women-centric twist, lifted by Macdonald’s striking performance, strong supporting cast and catchy score.
RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars
