The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (FILM REVIEW)
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister
& Pete
Film Review
by Kam Williams
Abandoned Kids Fend for Themselves in Gritty, NYC Saga
It’s the last day of school for 8th
grader Mister Winfield (Skylan Brooks), who comes home to the
projects where he lives with his single-mom (Jennifer Hudson), Gloria, a hooker
with a heroin habit. His best friend, 9 year-old Pete (Ethan Dizon), isn’t any
better off, since his mother (Martha Millan) works out on the corner for the
same abusive pimp (Anthony Mackie).
When both
their moms disappear, it looks like the Housing Cops will cart them away to
Riverview, an institution with a horrible reputation in terms of foster care. So,
the boys decide to hide in Mister’s apartment, occasionally venturing down to
the tough streets where they must forage and fend for themselves over the
course of a particularly, sweltering, New
York City summer.
This is the
opening salvo of The Inevitable Defeat of Mister
& Pete, a gritty, slice-of-life saga directed by George Tillman, Jr.
(Notorious). The compelling coming- of-age drama plays out like an inner-city
answer to The Kings of Summer, a similarly-themed story featuring a suburban
setting.
Here,
although Pete is Korean-American, Mister, who is black, refers to his BFF as
“my nigga.” And as the two unsupervised adolescents negotiate their way around
the ‘hood, no one seems to take much notice of their age or ethnic differences.
Meanwhile,
despite being 3,000 miles away from California,
aspiring actor Mister harbors a secret dream of auditioning at an upcoming casting
call with the hopes of landing a role that will enable them to relocate to Hollywood. He prepares for
his make-or-break moment by reenacting a scene from Fargo that he’s memorized verbatim.
However,
before that opportunity arrives, a host of frightening ordeals lay in wait in
an unforgiving ghetto littered with the scum of the Earth. Will he survive, let
alone escape to L.A.?
If so, it’ll make for one heck of a “How I Spent My Summer Vacation” essay come
September.
A picture which proves it’s hard in
the ’hood not only for pimps, but for kids, too.
Very Good
(3 stars)
Rated R for profanity, ethnic slurs, drug use and sexuality
Running time: 108 minutes
Distributor: Lionsgate
Films
To see a trailer for
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete, visit:
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