The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete

Masterfully told, poignant and memorable, this film was an emotional home run. Every character was vivid and raw, especially the compassion-evoking, young lead, "Mister." Jennifer Hudson was just short of brilliant in her portrayal of a troubled, desperate mother, spiraling out of control, plagued by the repercussions of too many poor choices. This film is grittily realistic, thanks to a near-perfect cast and superb, thoughtful storytelling. Love it.

I saw this film at Sundance and the cast and crew got about four standing ovations. People who raved about Fruitvale said this film tops it. This a great film! This film is a cross between Spike Lee's Clockers (1995) and Hirokazu Koreeda's Nobody Knows (2004), with a bit of Fresh (1994) mixed in. Based on a true story, Nobody Knows portrays siblings who are abandoned by their mother and forced to survive on their own. Resiliency is a trait of many urban kids. Even in tragedy they were just kids. Mister and Pete doesn't try to let the audience "off the hook". The performances pull you in, or at least it did for me.

I was surprised to see how low the ratings were for this film.

You may have two female singers turned actors, you may have Anthony Mackie and Jeffrey Wright (in roles you might not expect them, especially the former), but the real stars are the two kids. It's amazing how they play their roles. This movie is really gripping and it's all because of the two children who make this movie. The casting people and whoever else was responsible for getting them cannot get enough praise for the job they did.

Same as mentioned above goes for the children, but also the script and the directing. You never feel like you are being preached at and it still manages to convey its message. On the disc I watched there are a few deleted scenes, which are also worth watching. Some might even say, they should've been in the movie too. That's for you to judge, but won't take anything from the impact of the movie, only enhance it

Poor minorities forced to struggle while trying to survive is what you have to look forward too. When children are involved, it hits home a little harder. The subject matter is no stranger to us. The Grapes of Wrath is where Steinbeck took us and we got large doses of prejudice, poverty and hopelessness delivered to us in a book and movie form. Here however we are exposed to the grittiness and underside of the problem mixed with crime and degradation through drug addiction to make the poverty point. I am sure anyone watching this may have a flashback or two of their own upbringing and either say I can relate or there go I but for the grace of God. It will move you that way. The young stars did excellent job and not once did they stare into the camera or let you believe they were acting. You were living it as they were and that is worth a mention. Yes to seeing this movie and it is worth the price of a ticket. Yes to definitely having a snack, tasty drink and finger foods. Parts will move you and cause you to really know...this is real and because of that may be lightly disturbing for some...Good because that is how change comes about

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete (2013)

A deeply thoughtful movie about two charming kids who end up going it alone in the projects when their addicted mother is taken away. We are taken into the bowels of a pretty realistic low income housing world in New York City. The portrayal of the dangers might actually be watered down a bit, and it feels weirdly depopulated a lot of time, but the squalor and the general grim feeling works.

What clinches this movie, and no one will argue this, is the performances of both the leading actors, Mister and Pete. Mister, an African-American kid with thoughtful eyes, is about 12 and he's weirdly calm and sanguine through all the disasters. Pete, an Asian kid with sweet innocence written all over him, is a few years younger and needs Mister's protection. The odd but true friendship between the two is a lot of the movie, but the way each has to deal with the outside world in a series of difficult (and ugly and profane) incidents is what gives it depth.

It's fair to say this movie, and its African-American director George Tillman, have been overlooked. See it. It may not take creative leaps and it may not push every button at exactly the right time, but it has the sincerity and stunning leading actors to make it an important new film.