A white-trash, gorgeously rotund rapper from New Jersey, Patricia Dombrowski (aka Patti Cake$, played by newcomer Danielle Macdonald), dares to dream big. This dramedy/hip-hop musical sent Sundance audiences wild. Still, don’t let that put you off.
A lot of indie hits seem designed to make liberals feel warm and fuzzy inside and Geremy Jasper’s directorial debut certainly has formulaic elements (it steals a lot from bigs-girls-want-to-have-fun classic, Hairspray, with alt comic Bridget Everett very obviously in Divine mode as Patti’s mum). Yet it squeezes so much postmodern sass into the proceedings that it would be wrong to call the end result corny.
The script (as well the raps, which do as much work as the dialogue) repeatedly dissect what it means to be authentic. Patti is dubbed “a white Precious” by a Justin Bieber clone. She’s called a “culture vulture” by a pretentious superstar. Both insults have a grain of truth. Jasper’s point is that being oneself is always a performance. If we know how to tell a story we all have the right to get up on stage.
I loved the bit where a black DJ, trying to earn a crust, tweaks the 50 Cent anthem, In Da Club, and encourages a bunch of Jewish children to chant “Go, Adam! It’s your mitzvah! We gon’ party. Like it’s yo mitzvah!”
Patti Cakes, in pictures
And I loved Patti’s smart, catchy raps, composed with best friend Jhem — Public Enemy purists will be horrified but this film isn’t chasing the cool vote. Macdonald is fabulous, and so is Everett, especially in the third act. Having attended one of the cult comedian’s live shows, which flirt heavily with the grotesque, I was tickled to see her many gifts unabashedly celebrated here. Will Patti Cake$ make £s? Most def — it’s one of the sweetest, funnest films of the year.
Cert 15, 109 mins
