'The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete' is a first-time screenplay by Michael Starburry. His protagonist is the 'Mister' of the title played by Skylan Brooks. The plot is rather simple: when Mister's crack-addicted mother (played by Jennifer Hudson of 'Dreamgirls' and 'American Idol' fame) disappears during one particular summer in a Brooklyn public housing project, 12 year old Mister and Pete (an eight year old abused Asian-American kid Mister's mother is supposedly taking care of for a drug addict acquaintance), must fend for themselves.
Right off the bat the premise is a bit hard to swallow. Perhaps it's happened in some rare cases, but the idea that two young kids would go unreported for an entire summer without anyone from child protective services being notified, would be a rare event. Nonetheless, 'Mister and Pete' plays out more like a 'fable' than a drama culled from real events.
Still, Starburry's narrative suffers from wandering aimlessly throughout the bulk of its second act. The whole idea is that Mister has become hardened by events and characters in his environment. He can no longer act like a normal twelve year old and falls into a shell where he doesn't allow anyone to help him. It's called 'tough guy posturing' and beginning with the overly aggressive Mister cursing his high school teacher out for giving him a failing grade in school (despite his teacher offering him a ride home in his car), we must endure (over and over again) this kid 'with an attitude', until he experiences an epiphany at the denouement.
Starburry also attributes an additional character flaw to Mister, more befitting of a young adult: the quest to 'make it big' in the entertainment business. The deluded Mister believes that if he passes an audition for a TV show based in Beverly Hills, this will solve all his problems. He even has Mister reciting a well known scene from the film 'Fargo' as his audition piece
The aforementioned 'tough guy posturing' attributed to our protagonist is the result of a series of interactions that causes Mister to clam up emotionally. The most dramatic of these interactions occurs when he spies his prostitute mother performing a sex act on a man during a bathroom break, while the family has been having lunch.
There are additional interactions Mister has with a series of characters from the projects including a bully who at one point beats him up, a gang leader (Anthony Mackie) who gives Mister a wad of money after taking pity on him and a homeless man (Jeffrey Wright), who suddenly warms up to Mister, after the beleaguered kid shares some of his dwindling food supply with the gruff bum on the street.
Occasionally, Starburry goes in for cheap stereotypes, like the grocery store owner (was he supposed to be Arabic or Indian?) who attempts to strangle poor little Mister after the kid obnoxiously overturns a few store displays inside the man's store.
Only Jordin Sparks manages to temporarily evoke a sympathetic note as Mister's 'adult friend' who promises to help the 'home alone' kids but even she ends up mysteriously vanishing, later revealed to run off with a well-heeled white guy from the suburbs.
After resorting to stealing to put food on the table, Mister finally sees the light and runs for 'help' after poor Pete falls ill. This leads to both being discovered as neglected children and ending up in a dreaded juvenile institution (which Mister imagined initially to be some kind of torture chamber). All's well that ends well for Mister, when his mother turns up sober at the facility and reclaims him. But what about little Pete? Presumably he'll remain with the state, until his own mother gets herself together (or will she?).
Unlike most reviewers, I did not find Mr. Brooks' performance as the hardened 'Mister', to be at all enjoyable. But whose fault is that? Clearly Mr. Starburry's, as the first time screenwriter boxed himself into a corner by making 'Mister' into a thoroughly obnoxious character throughout. Yes we did get the point that Mister was a victim of his environment, but still, wasn't there a way to make him a little more charming? Even kids who have been "damaged" by their tough upbringing have their likable sides. Kudos to Mr. Starburry for pointing out how tough growing up in the projects can be--but his main character simply needed a few more shades of gray!
Right off the bat the premise is a bit hard to swallow. Perhaps it's happened in some rare cases, but the idea that two young kids would go unreported for an entire summer without anyone from child protective services being notified, would be a rare event. Nonetheless, 'Mister and Pete' plays out more like a 'fable' than a drama culled from real events.
Still, Starburry's narrative suffers from wandering aimlessly throughout the bulk of its second act. The whole idea is that Mister has become hardened by events and characters in his environment. He can no longer act like a normal twelve year old and falls into a shell where he doesn't allow anyone to help him. It's called 'tough guy posturing' and beginning with the overly aggressive Mister cursing his high school teacher out for giving him a failing grade in school (despite his teacher offering him a ride home in his car), we must endure (over and over again) this kid 'with an attitude', until he experiences an epiphany at the denouement.
Starburry also attributes an additional character flaw to Mister, more befitting of a young adult: the quest to 'make it big' in the entertainment business. The deluded Mister believes that if he passes an audition for a TV show based in Beverly Hills, this will solve all his problems. He even has Mister reciting a well known scene from the film 'Fargo' as his audition piece
The aforementioned 'tough guy posturing' attributed to our protagonist is the result of a series of interactions that causes Mister to clam up emotionally. The most dramatic of these interactions occurs when he spies his prostitute mother performing a sex act on a man during a bathroom break, while the family has been having lunch.
There are additional interactions Mister has with a series of characters from the projects including a bully who at one point beats him up, a gang leader (Anthony Mackie) who gives Mister a wad of money after taking pity on him and a homeless man (Jeffrey Wright), who suddenly warms up to Mister, after the beleaguered kid shares some of his dwindling food supply with the gruff bum on the street.
Occasionally, Starburry goes in for cheap stereotypes, like the grocery store owner (was he supposed to be Arabic or Indian?) who attempts to strangle poor little Mister after the kid obnoxiously overturns a few store displays inside the man's store.
Only Jordin Sparks manages to temporarily evoke a sympathetic note as Mister's 'adult friend' who promises to help the 'home alone' kids but even she ends up mysteriously vanishing, later revealed to run off with a well-heeled white guy from the suburbs.
After resorting to stealing to put food on the table, Mister finally sees the light and runs for 'help' after poor Pete falls ill. This leads to both being discovered as neglected children and ending up in a dreaded juvenile institution (which Mister imagined initially to be some kind of torture chamber). All's well that ends well for Mister, when his mother turns up sober at the facility and reclaims him. But what about little Pete? Presumably he'll remain with the state, until his own mother gets herself together (or will she?).
Unlike most reviewers, I did not find Mr. Brooks' performance as the hardened 'Mister', to be at all enjoyable. But whose fault is that? Clearly Mr. Starburry's, as the first time screenwriter boxed himself into a corner by making 'Mister' into a thoroughly obnoxious character throughout. Yes we did get the point that Mister was a victim of his environment, but still, wasn't there a way to make him a little more charming? Even kids who have been "damaged" by their tough upbringing have their likable sides. Kudos to Mr. Starburry for pointing out how tough growing up in the projects can be--but his main character simply needed a few more shades of gray!