Presenting Princess Shaw

Documentary. Samantha Montgomery, who looks to be in her late 20s/early 30s, lives in ghetto New Orleans. She has and has had a tough, even punishing life; works a low-level nursing-home job; lives alone; and has, let's face it, not much in the way of prospects. She wants to be a star, and she pours her life into her songs and singing anywhere, including at some of the noisiest smoke- blue open-mike dives and dumps imaginable, but mostly to an unseen crowd of followers on YouTube. What happens next can't be mentioned but more important is the heart and courage of the Princess herself. Despite little encouragement save the obligatory kind reflexively offered by Mom and friends, she works hard at her art, remaining consistently and insistently optimistic and open-hearted. And generous, too: doesn't resent her mother's past neglect, is kind and encouraging even to those who want that open- mike chance as much as she does. Stick with this. It's a tad slow in the beginning and the nightclub scenes are ear-pummeling and chaotic; they show you what Princess has to survive.