Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.0

It's Pat: The Movie Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf November 8, 2018

While “Saturday Night Live” scored a box office success with 1980’s “The Blues Brothers,” it was 1992’s “Wayne’s World” that really opened Hollywood’s eyes to the potential of turning sketches into cinema. “Wayne’s World” was special, with incredible spirit, timing, and charm from the cast, giving it a unique alchemy that would be difficult to repeat. But that wasn’t going to stop producers (including “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels) from trying. Just two years after Mike Myers and Dana Carvey headbanged their way into everyone’s hearts, “It’s Pat: The Movie” showed up, trying to siphon some of the magic dust that was left behind. Perhaps the endeavor was a smart business decision, but creatively, it’s difficult to understand who really thought there was potential in turning a one-line joke from a late night sketch show into a major motion picture. “It’s Pat: The Movie” is horrible, no shock there, but to watch the endeavor gasp for air for an unexpectedly long 74 minutes is painful, finding star Julia Sweeney trying with every fiber of her being to keep the sinking ship moving along before it hits bottom.

Pat (Julia Sweeney) is an androgynous person who can’t hold down a job, working her way through multiple gigs, trying to find some stability and remain purposeful while wandering throughout Los Angeles. Pat finds love with Chris (Dave Foley), with the pair matching in style and sexuality, embarking on a romance that’s inching toward marriage. Pat is happy but not content, trying to keep busy with employment problems, while attempting to make friends with neighbors such as Kathy (Kathy Griffin), who hosts a radio talk show, giving advice on love. Another resident in the apartment is Kyle (Charles Rocket), who immediately dismisses Pat as a weirdo in the building, but soon grows infatuated with the question of Pat’s gender. Losing his mind as he strives to acquire special confirmation of Pat’s genitalia, Kyle becomes a problem for his wife, shedding all responsibilities to make a critical discovery. For Pat, problems emerge from instability, struggling to find something that provides happiness, including a gig playing the tuba for the band Ween.

It probably goes without saying that “It’s Pat: The Movie” couldn’t be made in 2018. It was barely a sketch in the 1990s, playing up the gimmick that the titular human being was humorously avoiding identifying personal gender, leaving those around the question mark wondering just what was under layers of clothes. The sketches never felt vicious, with Sweeney always trying to find the weirdness of Pat to best support jokes, building an “SNL” creation, not attacking any personal identification issues. “It’s Pat: The Movie” edges into meanness, with those on the outside reacting to Pat with utter disgust, including pharmacy employee Tippy (Kathy Najimy), who’s physically repulsed when Pat orders deceptive items (a request for “feminine napkins” turns out to be exotic dinner napkins), wanting nothing more than to get this customer out of her store. Not helping the cause is Pat’s big screen makeover, which emphasizes large weight and bizarrely focuses on the tuba player’s leaky facial fluids, with Pat always losing the battle with snot and spit. Why add this? Good question, and the first of many when it comes to the ideas presented in the screenplay, which is written by Sweeney, Jim Emerson, and Stephen Hibbert.

On “SNL,” Pat was odd but endearing. “It’s Pat: The Movie” makes the character mentally ill and insistently nosy, openly invading Kathy’s space to secure her friendship, coming across as a stalker. The Pat and Chris subplot doesn’t do much to warm up the film, with their seemingly functional union offered artificial issues to give them a break-up-to-make-up arc, with Chris disappearing from the story for large amounts of time, suggesting that the final edit wasn’t kind to anyone who wasn’t Pat. The writing doesn’t acknowledge Pat’s newfound creepiness, which manages to destroy the pun-n-misunderstanding humor of the feature, as multiple scenes focus on others trying to pinpoint gender through Pat’s verbiage. For example, Pat falls down a set of stairs, complains of crushed nuts, and there are crushed nuts inside Pat’s pocket. Kyle thinks he spots an erection in Pat’s pants, makes a joke about a banana, and Pat pulls a banana out of a pocket. Lather, rinse, repeat.

There’s not much of a plot to “It’s Pat: The Movie,” and there couldn’t be. Pat isn’t a strong enough character to carry a picture, making the feature’s episodic nature hard on the senses, watching Pat join the post office (buttoned with a “going postal” joke), banter with gangbangers, and perform in a concert with Ween, who are trying to exploit Pat’s personal appearance for an upcoming music video. Sweeney tries to sell Pat’s insecurities and idiosyncrasies with as much energy as possible, really giving the performance her all. It’s the material that’s torpedoes the whole thing, while director Adam Bernstein has no idea what he’s doing, refusing to add a filmic lift to a flat, television-style enterprise.

It's Pat: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation is sourced from a very old master of "It's Pat: The Movie," providing fans(?) of the film with a fatigued viewing experience, perhaps delivering only a mild improvement from the DVD. Detail isn't strong, with softness found throughout, diminishing facial surfaces, with only the most extreme makeup efforts securing any sort of texture. Neighborhood visits also fail to impress, muting vistas. Colors are already cranked to create a cartoon realm for the characters, but blazing primaries aren't sharp, lacking a proper refreshing to make them come alive. Period hues also disappoint, despite major offerings of loudness from costumes. Delineation is adequate but not always precise. Source is in decent shape, without distinct elements of damage.

It's Pat: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix brings clarity to the movie, but not always definition, remaining on the quiet side, requiring volume boost to bring it up to cinematic standards. Everything sounds thin, finding dialogue exchanges intelligible but delivering only mild character emphasis. Scoring is the same, retaining musical moods but carrying very little weight, making pop song basslines the only real punch of the track. Atmospherics are acceptable, supplying a sense of concert audiences and apartment life.

It's Pat: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:52, SD) is included.

It's Pat: The Movie Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The saga of Kyle and his obsession with Pat makes up most of what passes for story in "It's Pat: The Movie," which eventually makes its way to a mirror maze on Hollywood Boulevard because, why not? There's an aside with Pat becoming a talk radio host (stealing the gig from Kathy), but most of the endeavor is trying to make Pat seem as ugly as possible, refusing to celebrate identity and personal choices. It's a joyless creation (Pat's T.V. debut is on the show "America's Creepiest People") born from something passably mischievous and short, and should've remained there. There's some sympathy for Sweeney, who was offered a shot and took it as far as she could go, but she loses the heart and impishness of her most popular character in "It's Pat: The Movie," so desperate to do something for the screen, she makes Pat the butt of all the jokes.