‘Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete,’ With Jennifer Hudson
Skylan Brooks and Ethan Dizon in "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete." Credit Lionsgate
There are times in “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete” when the emotions it stirs up are so naked and unembarrassed that it feels as if you’ve entered a cinematic time machine back to the silent era, to when child actors like Jackie Coogan gutted you with sentiment. Coogan played the title character in Charles Chaplin’s glorious 1921 weepie “The Kid ,” the urchin with the tight grip around the Tramp’s neck and lock on the audience’s affections. The heartbreakers in “Mister & Pete,” a melodrama about two children slipping through the cracks, shed fewer tears than the Kid did — poverty can toughen even the most tender bodies — but their hold on you is as fierce.
Mister (Skylan Brooks) and Pete (Ethan Dizon) live in a part of Brooklyn that rarely figures into trend articles about the borough, one with projects and struggling people. It’s here that Mister, a 13-year-old as tough as he is wiry, dodges drug dealers and vaults over trouble. In public, Mister leads with his chin, but when you first see him, his head is down and tears have splashed on the failing grade that will force him to repeat eighth grade. His teacher shoots Mister a withering look and then gives him a ride. It’s unpleasant, but it’s for your own good, the teacher says, a finger wagging that Mister, a proud, stubborn child, answers with a burn-it-down expletive.
Jennifer Hudson in "The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete." Credit Lionsgate
This is one funny, sad kid in one funny, sad movie. Pitched fascinatingly, at times uneasily, between misery and uplift, “Mister & Pete” tells the story of an endlessly resourceful child who survives the unimaginable over one long summer. The trouble begins when Mister’s mother, Gloria (Jennifer Hudson) — who’s hit the bad mother trifecta: she’s a prostitute, heroin addict and welfare recipient — is arrested, leaving him on his own with Pete, a 9-year-old neighborhood stray. The cupboard is as empty as Gloria’s electronic benefit card. But in the hands of the director George Tillman Jr. who lightens the mood with jazz, comic moments and warm colors, Mister and Pete’s situation doesn’t seem too awful, at least at first. And poor kids do the darnedest things, like committing larceny.
The mood stays light even as the days slip past. An irresistibly charming duo, Mister and Pete elude a menacing cop, Pike (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and struggle to keep cool and entertained. They also try to keep fed, an endeavor that initially registers as a challenge rather than a calamity. Part of this is because of Mister, who, it becomes clear, has been working the angles all his life. He schemes before he weeps. Mr. Tillman’s style, which owes a debt to the theatrical style of Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing ” and similarly transforms the projects into a stage, also softens the hard times as do the cuter lines and some of the turns in Michael Starrbury’s script.
“The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete” is largely told through Mister’s point of view, which helps explain its narrow vision of the world. Even so, there are moments when that child’s view melts away, particularly in the portrayal of Gloria, who comes perilously close to an ugly stereotype about single African-American mothers. Ms. Hudson’s natural likability helps humanize the character, even when, after sliding the needle in and drifting into a haze, Gloria waves her hand at Mister. She looks as if she’s wishing him away, but she may also be trying to spare him grief. It sometimes feels as if Mr. Tillman wants to do the same with his audience. He does lovely work here, particularly with the actors, even if his insistent ebullience can feel like a sales pitch. But then poverty is a hard sell.
“The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). The film features scenes of intense child and pet peril along with intravenous drug use and other adult situations.
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
Director George Tillman Jr.
Writer Michael Starrbury