Patti Cake$ Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Patti Cake$ Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 8, 2017

There must be something about November that invites Blu-ray releases about unlikely rappers, since it was just about exactly a year ago that I reviewed Morris from America, a generally appealing story about a black kid from the United States who finds rapping a way to matriculate into German culture after having moved there with his father. There may not be that same kind of cultural clash in Patti Cake$, but this particular film is another example of an unusual acolyte, in this case an overweight white woman from New Jersey named Patricia Dombrowski, attempting to scale the ranks of rap stardom. At least a little like Morris from America, Patti Cake$ derives some of its unusual energy from the very disconnect of seeing someone you'd very likely never suspect of wanting to be a rap star break into slightly comical dance moves and erupt with profanities that might make a sailor blush. Also like Morris from America, Patti Cake$ tends to ply a certain middle ground between "kitchen sink" drama and something at least a little more whimsical. Morris from America never really seemed to find an audience, despite its amiable sentiments, but Patti Cake$ has been something of a critical darling at some festival screenings due to the breakout performance of Australian actress Danielle Macdonald as Patti (Maddonald may be familiar to some viewers from her compelling if disturbing supporting turn in Every Secret Thing).

Like Morris in Morris in America or a certain rap wannabe in 8 Mile , Patti dreams big, and in fact the film opens with a fantasy sequence that sees the plus size woman taking the stage in a scene fairly dripping in an emerald green color. Unfortunately, real life is not nearly as splendid, with Patti coexisting in a pretty rundown environment with her mother Barb (Bridget Everett), once an aspiring musician herself, and her Nana (Cathy Moriarty). Barb seems to be a potent predictive example to Patti that the future is going to be even more bleak if Patti doesn’t do something to change her current state of affairs, but at least somewhat similarly to 8 Mile, socioeconomic forces seems to conspiring against her.

Patti’s path in Patti Cake$ may not be completely believable, but writer and director Geremy Jasper has fashioned a generally gritty and lived in feeling film that offers a showcase to its ensemble cast, while highlighting some truly spectacular work from Macdonald and Everett (who is a belter of some authority). The whole family dynamic plays like a kind of slightly eerie slow motion nightmare at times, but it’s countered by some blistering high energy extracurricular scenes where Patti engages help not just from her best friend Hareesh (Siddharth Dhananjay) but also from an unlikely collaborator with the equally unlikely name of Basterd (Mamoudou Athie). In fact it’s the Basterd angle that is probably the least likely thing in a film filled with a certain artifice, but which nonetheless manages to come off as an almost “ripped from headlines” example of realism.

A film like Patti Cake$, which teeters right on the edge of (occasionally potty mouthed) fairy tale territory, rises or falls on the strengths of its performances, and despite a few stray signs of Macdonald’s Australian patois, she simply takes control of this film in a really remarkable way. Just watching her strut down a dilapidated New Jersey street likes it’s a high fashion runway, or the way some of her “showdown” scenes play reveal an actress of rare physical presence (and this is completely apart from the sheer bulk of her size). There’s a sweetness to Patti despite the hardscrabble life fate has handed her, and Macdonald brings a really appealing subtext of resilience but also vulnerability to a character who doesn’t let a little thing like reality defeat her tendency to dream big.

Patti Cake$ Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Patti Cake$ is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Director Geremy Jasper and cinematographer Federico Cesca bring a quasi-verité look to large swaths of the film, with handheld cameras and a certain "looseness" to framings (and even focus) that seem to subliminally suggest the audience is a voyeur secretly peeking at this story unfolding like a veritable (and at times fairly "movable") fly on the wall. As such, sharpness can be a little variable, as can fine detail, something that is also affected by a prevalence of rather dark sequences that play out places like karaoke bars or even the dingy shack where Patti tracks down Basterd at one point. In decent lighting conditions, the palette pops agreeably and detail levels remain generally high. A number of oddly lit scenes, like the opening sequence which is bathed in deep greens, or a later incident involving a skirmish that has a purplish tinge courtesy of some police lights, can tend to give the palette weird highlights and there are very slight leanings toward minor banding at a few moments.

Patti Cake$ Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

As might be expected, Patti Cake$ has a rather forceful soundtrack, and it's rendered cleanly and clearly courtesy of this Blu-ray disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The many music scenes (not necessarily just rap, courtesy of Barb's penchant for power ballads) have excellent surround placement and at times really powerful low ends. Despite the "thump" heavy approach to a lot of the cues, prioritization of other elements, like either the actual rap elements or "simpler" things like plain old dialogue, are handled smartly, with nothing really ever lost or buried in the mix. A lot of the film plays out outdoors in urban environments, and these also afford the sound mix good use of the surround channels to establish a lifelike ambience. Fidelity is excellent across the board, and the film has unusually wide dynamic range.

Patti Cake$ Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Slice of Cake$ (1080p; 21:28) is an appealing EPK with quite a bit of behind the scenes footage and some good interviews.


• Director Commentary by Geremy Jasper


• "Patti $ea$on" Music Video (1080p; 2:55)


• Lyric Video (1080p; 1:33)


• Promotional Featurettes

  Making the Music (1080p; 1:45)

  Danielle as Patti (1080p; 1:24)

  Geremy (1080p; 1:48)

  Jersey Women (1080p; 2:04)

• Gallery (1080p; 2:40) offers both an Auto Advance and a Manual Advance option. The timing is for the Auto Advance option.

Patti Cake$ Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

You may ultimately not "buy" the fairy tale Patti Cake$ wants to sell you, but my hunch is one way or the other you'll be totally won over by the wonderful Danielle Macdonald, who makes Patricia Dombrowski a memorable character. The film is briskly paced, and also offers excellent supporting turns by a large and rather varied cast. Geremy Jasper, who evidently has a background in music videos, establishes himself as a major talent to keep an eye on, and I actually wouldn't be totally surprised to see Jasper wrangle a Best Original Screenplay nomination when next year's Academy Award competitors are announced. Technical merits are strong, and Patti Cake$ comes Recommended.