I'm usually not a fan of inner-city dramas, but this one is different. There's no overt political message--in fact, in that regards it comes off more like an impassive documentary: you are the disembodied eye, witnessing the lives of two young abandoned cubs as they struggle to survive in one of the harshest environments in the country. There's no finger-pointing, no cliché'd "bad guy"...in fact, (almost) everyone is a "bad guy" at one point or another, except for Pete (the voice of innocence, acquainted to the local Hell by a more seasoned Mister).The acting by the two young heroes is fantastic--particularly from Skylan Brooks, who (I'm sure) will be gracing our screen for decades to come.The directing is both solid and refreshing--Mr. George Tillman Jr.'s style features is a wonderful change from today's prevalent "cut to another scene every half seconds" style. He's not afraid to dwell on a seemingly-unrelated scene to fill in atmosphere, and he doesn't insult the audience by explaining what is clearly implied. His is a name worth remembering as well.This movie is well worth a watch--I doubt many will find fault with it, as it shares some resonance with almost everyone.

the movie all in all was a really good movie, it actually brought tears to my eyes. It's funny, it leaves you in suspense and it also leaves you in tears. I loved the plot, but it left a LOT of unanswered questions....What happened to Pete? What happened to Alise? Did they move back to the projects? and again...what happened to Pete?Pete was one of the main characters so this really makes no sense. Alise just left and never came back - was she killed or something? (I guess we'll never know)Will there be a 2nd series to this movie?

I'd bet a lot of white people look at this movie at first glance in a 'Blindside' type of way. This isn't a black movie or a white movie or a white guilt type of movie or exploitation type of movie.The Inevitable defeat of Mister and Pete is just a good movie about a young boy with dreams, in a terrible spot. His mother is doped out, he lives in a rough neighborhood and there is no way for things to get better (even though he aspires to become an actor and make a better life for himself).When the police crack down on the drug trade in his neighborhood, his mother is picked up. Mister and Pete (the young boy who was staying at his apartment because his mother was on a binge) spend the summer trying to survive and stay out of riverside orphanage.A hallowing story about life--not black life or the ghetto, a story about life when things are bad and all that matters is surviving, the Inevitable defeat of Mister and Pete takes the viewer into a world they most likely never see.This movie had a great message of survival and perseverance and hope and left me believing, if I just keep living and fighting, everything will work out.The dialogue at times was a little forced, I felt, to convey the situation of helplessness--but I can live with that, as the script on a whole was pretty good. It's hard to convey so much with just dialogue and I thought the writer, Michael Starrbury did a pretty good job.It was well Directed, but George Tillman Jr has proved he is an elite director imo.Skylan Brooks (Mister) probably set himself up to be in countless movies in the future and I'd like to see him in a comedy next.Jennifer Hudson, even though she didn't have that many lines was able to fulfill her role perfectly.This was a good movie and definitely worth the time it took to watch it.

Children survived without parents that loved them. The tragic ending was the capture of the children to which the state held them captive. The point of view of children is far more realistic than adults. Children understand the difference from being cared for because they are loved, and being cared for because the state gets paid to do so. Plainly children perceive abuse when the state cares for them for money. Why adults do not perceive this fact is beyond me. When a state gets paid to take care of children its child abuse. How the state justifies child abuse is beyond me. I question the benefit of taking a child from abusive parents just to replace the abuse parents with another another abusive system. Children understand the difference from someone doing their job responsibility and someone who cares for them merely that they love them. So the movie was realistic, it is a ten star movie, I claim to only be a eight star movie, merely that it conveys the benefit of the state, when in most cases the state does more harm than good.