It came as little surprise to those who were at the film’s Monday premiere at the Eccles that Patti Cake$ was bought by Fox Searchlight on Tuesday for a reported $10.5 million price tag. That is because writer/director’s Geremy Jasper’s tale of an irrepressible aspiring rapper in the Jersey hinterlands is easily one of the most exuberantly entertaining films shown at the festival so far. The story follows Patricia Dombrowski, (Danielle Macdonald) an overweight but irrepressible 23-year old who prefers going by her rap moniker Killa-P. She certainly prefers it to the “Dumbo” that neighborhood bullies use as a sophomoric put-down ever since her middle school days. Employed as a part-time bartender in the neighborhood dive bar and karaoke, she shares an apartment with her equally plus-size and embittered mother Barb (Bridget Everett), with whom she has a contentious relationship, and her ailing “nana” (Kathy Moriarty – fairly unrecognizable in age make-up), who passes the days glued top second-rate reality shows.

To escape her dreary day-to-day, Patti (her everyday name) lays down killer rhymes, idolizes superstar rapper O-Z (Sahr Ngaujah) and dreams of her own hip-hop megastardom, encouraged by her best fried, biggest fan and partner in rhyme Hareesh (Siddarth Dhananjay) – the sickest Sikh in East Jersey. She pines for the loser dime-bag, even as she beats him at freestyle rap battles and has to find double shifts to pay for her grandmother’s care even as her mom wastes her days drinking and regretting her own failed singing career.

The story is a relatively straightforward tale of creative hard-knocks and artistic coming-of-age. What sets this film apart are the well drawn (and perfectly cast) characters which populate the hard scrabble blue-collar Jersey locale (an evocation of the neighborhoods the director himself grew up in). The feeling ultimately is somewhere between Eight-Mile and American Graffiti (if that teen flick had been set on the Sopranos’ home turf).

All that and  the throbbing pulse of the film: the soundtrack of irrepressible beats and rhymes written by Jasper and performed by PB&J – the group Patti and Hareesh finally put together with help form a taciturn noise guitarist who calls himself Antichrist (Amoudou Athie).

Put it all together and you have a feature film debut which more than proves that Jasper,  who previously had only a couple of shorts and music videos to his credit, has the chops it takes. Himself a white boy New Jersey native with a passion for hip hop, Jasper told the Sundance audience that he created the character of Patti as something of an alter ego. In the process he also fashioned an irresistibly spunky and likeable character – somewhat reminiscent of a Queen Latifah (who incidentally rose to stardom in nearby Newark).  Sprinkled unobtrusively throughout  are obligatory Jersey references – from the Cookie Puss Carvel Ice Cream cake Patti and Nana bring to her deceased husband’s grave to the Bruce Springsteen on the soundtrack. And the equal opportunity musical tapestry which includes hip-hop, the Boss and eighties big-hair rock anthems, is kind of the point here.

The film includes  a subtext which addresses the thorny issue of “cultural appropriation” and how racial ownership butts up against cross cultural pollination and shared artistic expression. When Patti finally has a chance meeting with the idolized O-Z he crushes her demo implying the color if her skin automatically disqualifies her from poetic authenticity. It’s a devastating blow, which makes Patti’s ultimate recovery and triumph all the more stirring. By the time she belts her victory rap from a talent show stage, the audience in the theater was on its feet and clapping as loud as the fans in the film.

Sundance Review: Patti Cake$. Directed and written by Geremy Jasper. Produced by Chris Columbus, Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Noah Stahl, Daniela Taplin Lundberg  and Rodrigo Teixeira. With Danielle Macdonald, Bridget Everett, Sahr Ngaujah, Kathy Moriarty and Amoudou Athie.