Review: Patti Cake$ at Sydney Film Festival

Geremy Jasper’s Patti Cake$ is of aspiring rapper ‘Killa P’
who dreams of a life beyond, the place of which she be,
her friends Jheri and Basterd played by Siddharth Dhananjay and Mamoudou Athie, respectively
with Nana they form a hip-hop group and perform in New Jersey.

Danielle MacDonald shines as lead Patti, charming on the silver screen
playing a rapper from Bergen Country working for her dreams.
The main cast play the underdog, underestimated, judged by how they all appear,
superficial is the word to describe the industry.

With dreams bigger then her heart she dreams of the Emerald city,
to one day meet her idol O-Z (Sahr Ngaujah) and perform for his ears.
Exchanging sleep to work for dreams with these long night time shifts,
haters get jealous real quick as she spits these tight-ass beats.

They say the colour green is the one of jealousy​,
mixing bits of dribs and drabs with fabs so wonderful and free,
please look for your nearest exit in case of emergency:
Patricia Dombrowski calls herself ‘Patti Cake$’ a.k.a. ‘Killa P’.

Downtrodden and dissed all her life, it isn’t all that sweet,
but her personality shines through beyond harsh reality.
For the world may be cold and cruel and hostile to one’s dreams,
but with her friends and fam’s support Patti doesn’t need to fear.

There’s this throwback to the past, mix tapes, homemade demos of CDs,
Patti often listens, headphones on, blocking out all hostility.
For it’s a tough fight to the top, an unlikely chance that glory is achieved,
but in order to reach the top you just need to do, believe.

Jasper’s Patti Cake$ is a fun, enjoyable film to see,
the gritty tracks, strong performances, catchy beats are easy on the ears.
A heart warming story, I’m sure audience loved it as much as me,
for there was applause after, during the credits people cheered.

Patti Cake$ will be released on September 28th.

Find out more about Sydney Film Festival here: http://www.sff.org.au/

Review by Addy Fong.