Review of The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete (2013) by Thomas W — 05 Mar 2014

Knowing that this is one of Michelle Obama's favorite films of last year and that she held a private screening for this very small, independent film at the White House last year because she believed it had a very important message will most likely keep many from seeing this movie .

.. and that is a shame. It will be ignored, belittled and scoffed at just like Mister & Pete in this film -- two young boys who must fend for themselves one summer in the projects of NYC as their unmotivated, tragic and horrible parental figures are arrested for dealing drugs and sent away to rehab facilities while the kids are long-forgotten by both them and the authorities.

Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls) co-stars as the miserable mother of Mister (Skylan Brooks) who finds himself responsible for the younger neighbor Pete (Ethan Dizon) when Pete's drug-dealing/prostitute mother also finds herself in trouble.

Jordan Sparks (Sparkle) and Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker) co-star. The film is very low budget and not one that churns out plenty of fell-good moments; but it tries to shine a light on a topic some of us just don't want to talk about or acknowledge .

.. you know, because it actually goes away when we remain quiet. The movie is about a sad situation; but more sad is that so many of us decide to do nothing about it.