Isto é Pat: O Filme

The androgynous character from "Saturday Night Live" spins-off into a comedy movie. The annoying "Pat" (Julia Sweeney) has trouble finding a job. "Pat" is an abominable postal carrier and sneezes globs of snot on a customer's sushi. Like in the TV skits, we get close to determining if "Pat" is a man or woman, then something happens to put the character's gender back in question. Herein, "Pat" finds romance with likewise androgynous "Chris" (Dave Foley). Also, "Pat" has a neighbor (Charles Rocket) who becomes obsessed with catching "Pat" in a gender-proving moment.

More proof that SNL skits do not necessarily make good movies.

*** It's Pat (8/26/94) Adam Bernstein ~ Julia Sweeney, Dave Foley, Charles Rocket, Kathy Griffin

I must admit, I wasn't expecting much of this movie when I saw it on cable, but i didn't have anything else to do (and there was nothing else on tv) so I decided to watch this movie. To my amazement the movie was pretty good. Don't get me wrong or anything like that, it wasn't an oscar worthy production or some runaway hit, but the movie made me laugh hysterically in many of its insane scenes. I suggest you give this movie try....You will be laughing!

What starts off as a promising comedy quickly turns into mindless dribble quicker than you can say "Chalupa". The problem is that Pat can't carry a movie. If Pat had been in a very small supporting role in a movie, that would be barable, but this is just one of the most agonizing films ever. Even though there are many scenes that let Dave Foley bring out his cross-dressing best, they don't really point into any direction. The plot? Well, it's just a 5 minute Pat sketch stretched out to be 77 agonizing minutes. The movie relies on spit jokes and gender benders to carry the film. Not good. Luckily, SNL (The best show on TV) rebounded with the classics Stuart Saves His Family and Night at the Roxbury.

They probably should not have made a feature length film of the "Pat" sketch. They probably should not have even made it a running gag on Saturday Night Live. It should, however, probably be ranked higher on IMDb than Carrot Top's Chairman of the Board. Julia Sweeney is kind of annoying, but Dave Foley is great. What REALLY makes the movie is Charles Rocket's spiral into dementia over the enigma of Pat. That whole bit has me rolling on the floor. And also - Pat plays tuba with Ween! The karaoke scene is hilarious too. This movie is not a 10, but it's definitely not in the bottom 100 of all time. I liked this movie enough to buy it, but I gave it a 5 for a lame premise saved by the co-stars (Foley, Rocket, and Kathy Griffin).

I actually liked the sketch "Pat" on SNL. It was a fresh idea - honestly, how many other "andrognenous character-sketch" routines can you name? It had its limitations, and it sure as hell could have been pushed past the "Pat almost reveals his/her gender but then doesn't" joke that seems to have been the limit of its humor.

So when there was a movie, I thought, "Hey, they're finally going to push the character beyond the one-joke limit. I like Pat, sure, I'll like the movie!" Well, I was stunned at how ineptly and poorly executed the whole thing was. The Pat character is immediately portrayed as boorish, intrusive, insensitive, and a host of other undesirable characteristics. Who decided this is what Pat was about? Who thought this would be funny? And how does this relate to the SNL character, anyway? I see no resemblance at all.

Even Dave Foley, whom I love and who is well-known for his excellence at portraying long-suffering comic characters, cannot soften the unrelenting ugliness that Pat exudes. In addition, I really think they took the low road with the "Chris" character. Of all the androgynous names they could have chosen (Terry, Bobby, Sam, the list is long), "Chris" is so boring! And the style of androgyny that was chosen, "70's-esque flower child", complete with page-boy haircut, while certainly complimenting Pat's dowdiness, was just one more joke with a very short lifespan.

By the time you finally realize the ugly boorishness that Pat is all about is not going to be a short-lived bit, but is instead the main (and only) joke, and that you will get no reprieve at all, ever, through the entire film, it will be too late. You will have suffered through the whole film, with very few laughs, and entirely missed out on a "naive-but-loveable-doofus" version of Pat, that you might have expected to get.