Patti Cake$

Somewhere in-between 8 Mile and this Swedish film called We Are the Best (Go find it if you have not herd of it.), Lies PattiCakes. About a girl trying to make it in this Hip Hop game, but it's a hard climb for a heavy set white girl from the burbs trying to make her dreams come true. A better cry for feminist power than anything Jenifer Lawrence could ever put out as we watched the ultimate underdog story. A common story with an uncommon protagonist at the center. It has all the elements of a good sports movie but the competition is rap. My favorite part in the movie was when she and her odd rap crew are getting her record done. The whole creating process of making an album was really cool. Couldn't tell you if the words she spit were fire, but it does not matter, it's still a great musical journey and worth seeing for all fans of not just hip hop, but music.

Sure, I am not a movie expert in terms of writing and storyline.... however I have read comments based on "cliche" or too predictable..... to be honest it really doesn't matter critics really shouldn't be using this forum to flex their muscle.... thus providing inaccurate reviews.... Look the director and photographer are genius... in from this Cinderella world as so many put it... however despite the cliche or predictability they take you into a world that really was unexpected.... at time I gasped and thought oh no ... female version of 8 mile. However it is much more than that....the director seemlessly connects dream , daughter, mother and reality in one frame.... the biggest difference is this movie reveals how a person defies scrutiny, faces it and prospers via common sense and more importantly sentimental value.... anyone fighting the fight needs to see this film.....

A feel good drama about a NJ white girl who wants to be a rapper. Has more humor going for it than say Hustle & Flow but essentially the message of making it out of the hole you find yourself is still a potent one. A lot of fun, can't wait for PBN & J's debut CD.

What a shocker! I didn't think I would enjoy this but had time to kill. I was impressed enough to post a review, which I never do. The characters pulled me in and really made me feel something. Make me feel something, angry, sad, happy, scared, confused, anything. A good movie (for me) takes me away from my life and lets me see the world through others eyes for an hour and a half. This is not a prospective I would ever have imagined I would enjoy but I did. By the end of the movie I was rooting for Pati and her friends. I really felt vested in what I was seeing all a while through their eyes. Great acting, great story, great idea all around. Watching this movie was time well spend. Kudos!

From early on in "Patti Cake$," it seems evident that director Geremy Jasper's energetic style and tone to this story of a woman from 'dirty Jersey' trying to make it big in the rap scene will likely make this independent film appealing to mainstream audiences as well. First of all, the film's music is excellent. It is well-written, authentic and filled to the bone with genuine passion. If you're a rap fan, this would make the film most certainly worth the price of admission alone. The film has some notable performances as well, with Danielle Macdonald's role as Patti particularly note-worthy. The depiction of New Jersey is gritty and realistic, while still keeping a sense of dry humor when necessary, and the characters--while offbeat--are generally developed nicely.

However, the film is not without flaws. The main reason why this is the case is because of the film's rather generic script. While the script feels a bit bundled in parts and seems to work a little overtime to make the movie feel like a 'crowd-pleaser,' that's not the main problem with it. The real concern here is that the film contains a number of clichés that have been done many times before in films about performing arts. This makes the movie feel very slightly tedious and containing a bit of narrative 'filler' due to the presence of these tried-and-true events. As a result, it could have been about 10 or 15 minutes shorter without really losing anything.

While the movie is enjoyable and amusing throughout, it really rises to the occasion during the scenes Patti is rapping. In those scenes, the energy is truly both electric and infectious. Due to this (and the film's characters and accessibility,) this could also be an independent film that breaks out and finds a real audience in wide release, much like "The Big Sick" did earlier this summer--although unlike "The Big Sick," people will also run to iTunes when they get on their computers after arriving home from the theater to download the soundtrack. Recommended. 7/10

Disclaimer: I have not yet seen "The Big Sick," although I do plan on watching it on Redbox, and am not attempting to compare this film to that one in terms of quality. I was only using it as a comparison on the nature of accessibility/mainstream appeal.