Patti Cake$

Rap-ture

Patti Cake$
2017 USA Directed by Geremy Jasper 
UK cinema release print.

Just took a walk down to my local flea pit,
And took in a movie where the people were writ,
With a style, a heart, a shock to the head,
The team behind this one weren’t swingin’ the lead.

There’s Danielle Macdonald, she was really that great,
She wants to be a rapper with her double best mate,
A geezah named Jheri, he brightens her day,
Played by a cool bro named Siddharth Dhananjay.

The third in the crew is a charmer named Bastard,
Mamoudou Athie plays him, you know you’ve been mastered.
And with Patti’s wheelchair nanny, providing backing vocals,
You know this crew are jamming stuff that’s too good for the locals.

In the very first five minutes, the film had my heart,
With the Walter Mitty dreamings that give Patti her art,
She walks down the street with her headphones up to there,
As she carries on walking, she floats in the air.

The movie shows the tough times with a structure clichéd,
But with details so fresh, you need to wear your eye-shade.
The hand held camera, the slow pans and the dead pans,
This movie jumps out way ahead, some others are the also rans.

The film is anchored up with an old school aesthetic,
But don't let this fool you 'cause the pacing is quite hectic.
The rhythms, the beats, the shots aren't apoplectic,
The main man, Mr. Jasper, keeps it all quite copacetic.

Performance is key and the actors do so good,
Not a bad one in the bunch, you must see it, you should.
The tension, the heartache, the camera is all over it,
Surely for this viewer, it’s a fresher sure fire hit.

The film doesn’t stumble, not once, it’s just crazy,
And the editing so good, you know it won’t get hazy,
On transitions to real life and the dreams in Patti’s mind,
A better “rap to get out” movie? That you won’t find.

The film has the highs and lows, perhaps it’s formulaic,
But the way the thing is told here doesn’t get too algebraic.
There’s pressure, there passion, my heart filled with elations,
When Patti finally gets down to some sexual relations.

But for all the genre trappings of the structure of this show,
This movie doesn’t quite get where you think it’s gonna go.
The ending scene just owns it, sheer poetry, it’s right where,
It takes out your heart and you’re dancing on air.

Director Geremy Jasper also wrote it plus the music,
Along with Jason Binnick and the beats won’t make you too sick.
This movie it rocked me, it got me writing rhyme,
So you know I must have had myself a triple real good time.

If you want something special in your cinema this week,
You really should see Patti Cake$, ‘cos this film it is so sweet.
And Patti is a honey, you know she’ll treat you right,
If you head out to watch this one, you’ll have a great night!