Confoundingly, though, there are so many storybook conveniences getting us the these points that any moment of honesty is a drop in the ocean...

| Feb 23, 2021

Tillman's Mister and Pete can't manage to escape the feeling and tone of a nicely mounted television production, one which skimps significant dramatic corners.

| Aug 7, 2019

Told beautifully with a palpable coating of grit, director George Tillman, Jr. and writer Michael Starrbury lead us into the projects in Brooklyn and then slam us to the ground.

| Sep 18, 2017

While the themes of the film certainly transcend geography and age, the inclusion of multicultural characters further help make the film universal.

| Original Score: B+ | Sep 6, 2017

The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete simply tries too hard, and its emotional manipulation becomes far too obvious.

| Original Score: C | Aug 25, 2017

Everyone involved here does so much good work that the film's blemishes are easy to overlook.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Apr 14, 2016

Directing pitfalls notwithstanding, these young stars deliver such earnest performances that the audience will find it hard not to be moved by their tale.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Mar 21, 2016

At its best, the movie is emotionally rapturous, helped along by Brooks's incredible talent. At its worst, while it avoids falling into poverty porn (to my judgment, at least), it runs into a kind of hysteria of putting children in danger.

| Original Score: B | Apr 8, 2014

The expressive performances of the two young protagonists helps to smooth over the rough spots in a script that too often turns sappy and heavy-handed.

| Nov 2, 2013

Mister and Pete are, as the title goes, inevitably served up defeat at practically every turn, but ultimately it is outweighed by the strength and resilience the pair come to consistently display in the oppressive face of it.

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Oct 28, 2013

Even more welcome than its unusual story content is its humanistic impulse: It comes from a place of respect for its characters and belief in their dignity; by extension, it offers these same courtesies to its audience.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 23, 2013

[Sklyan] Brooks's performance as Mister... the best child performance of 2013.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Oct 22, 2013

A wonderful document of inner-city oppression and two young actors' beginning steps, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete struggles to establish a cohesive center, and ultimately fumbles any tension on the path toward its title's possible fate.

| Original Score: C | Oct 22, 2013

A picture which proves it's hard in the 'hood not only for pimps, but for kids, too.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 20, 2013

...might be compared to any number of movies... [but] I've ever seen anything quite like it. Though the script affords plenty of opportunities to default to sentimentality and sweet resolution, the characters seem to resist the easy and usual ways.

| Original Score: 88/100 | Oct 17, 2013

Kids fend for themselves in moving but intense urban drama.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 11, 2013

This isn't a grim wallow in the depths of poverty. There's hope here and it's earned, not forced.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 11, 2013

A gritty, sometimes downright heartwrenching story of two young boys left to fend for themselves for weeks during a boiling-hot summer in a Brooklyn housing project.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Oct 11, 2013

Proves to be as awkward as its title thanks to its uneven screenplay and tone, and questionable casting in supporting parts.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 11, 2013

There is a bold joy in the film, which can be credited to Mister and Pete, played wonderfully by Skylan Brooks and Ethan Dizon. Their childlike innocence but adult sensitivities gave the flick an undeniable heart.

| Original Score: B | Oct 10, 2013