Patrick Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Patrick Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman January 18, 2021

Pet ownership has its ups and downs. On one hand, there’s something comforting and therapeutic about a four-legged friend, particularly one that’s as willing to receive love as it is to give affection. Walking them is good exercise and the fresh air is healthy for the lungs. On the other hand, there’s the cost, the mess, the unpredictability, the mess, and the mess. Writer/Director Mandie Fletcher's (Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie) Patrick explores the pitfalls and the perils but also the pleasing sides of pet ownership when a young lovelorn woman inherits a dog and experiences the full spectrum, from repulsive detachment from to affectionate attachment to the animal and, yes, finds human love along the way as well.

Sarah’s (Beattie Edmondson) man has met someone and he needs some space to sort things out. These are words of dread for any hopeless romantic, like Sarah. Her life takes an immediate downward turn. She spends her days eating treats and vegging to RomComs in bed, living out the proverbial pity party. When her elderly grandmother passes away, Sarah learns that she has been given charge of granny’s prized pug named Patrick. Sarah’s not a dog person. She doesn’t understand how to care for the animal, and she doesn’t appreciate its behaviors, either, which begin with small annoyances and ultimately lead to him tearing up her flat. The pooch is interrupting her work life, too. She’s just started a new teaching job and if Patrick has a say in it, she won’t be in that line of work for very long. But her fortunes begin to change as she grows to like, and maybe even love, the animal, all the while suddenly finding new romantic possibilities opening up around her.

Much of the first half follows Sarah and her various misadventures in dog ownership. Patrick wakes her up early, sneaks food out of the refrigerator, and takes what he wants from the trash can. But Sarah’s displeasure with his behavior might just take a backseat to her ineptitude as a dog owner, and her struggles with the basic concepts of animal maintenance, like cleaning up his poop. It doesn’t help when Patrick vomits and she winds up with some of it in her own hair. The dog gets into places it shouldn’t and essentially makes her life miserable. Add to the fact that this new burden is bogging her down at work and bringing her love life – or whatever semblance of a love life remains in her field of view – to a screeching halt and it seems the dog is the final nail in her social life coffin. This is all man-and-animal moviemaking by rote; there’s not an original bit in sight, but the light approach, charming lead performance, and the film’s cute four-legged co-star alleviate the sense of repetition, which does hold steady as the story builds and Sarah’s life view evolves over the course of the film’s 90-something minute runtime.

The film is of dual romances, in a way, following Sarah's burgeoning relationship with Patrick -- platonic, of course, but the two certainly build an unbreakable love for one another as the story evolves -- and a more traditional story as Sarah suddenly finds herself with not one but two suitors. The former ultimately proves more satisfying than the latter, though certainly there's scarce originality and scant reason to care once the credits roll. Indeed, Sarah's romantic ventures with the men in the movie are in no way emotionally satisfying for the audience beyond the chintzy Hallmark quality storytelling around them (and, frankly, that network has done better, even in its absolute strict adherence to formula). But genre fans will find Patrick a comfortable, breezy watch if one finds value in simple character beats, basic narrative ebbs and flows, and demands no surprise in the end. Performances are fine. Beattie Edmondson has the RomCom cadence down to a science, playing the part with equal portions of lovable, goofy, clumsy, funny, charming, and everything else the part demands.

Patrick Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Patrick is certainly not the most visually dynamic movie ever made. It's of a simple video quality without much in the way of escape from neutral colors and honest detailing. There's no tonal manipulation at work and the textural front is adequate but hardly exhilarating. Essentially it's a good, honest, and stable, if not entirely ordinary, picture: exactly what one expects to find with a lower end RomCom. The picture is a mite soft, never quite reaching that ultra-sharp digital workmanship. But core details are effortlessly defined, showing basic facial, clothing, and environmental essentials with a good foundational clarity and HD definition. The picture is at its best up close where Patrick's fur and nose and all the little facial wrinkles are revealed, vital in the movie's narrative structuring and visual workflow alike. Colors are nicely saturated, again not the most pronounced and nuanced and lifelike ever to be seen on Blu-ray but the film is abundantly colorful in a natural real world sort of way, and the diverse tonal output proves springy and healthy. Skin tones are realistic and blacks aren't too deep or too raised. Noise is minimal and encode issues are a nonfactor. This might be an everyday, ordinary Blu-ray, but that's not at all a bad thing. Patrick looks just fine for what it is.

Patrick Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Patrick's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is capable though certainly not exemplary or extravagant in any way. The pop song that plays over the opening montage enjoys suitable width and fair clarity, though it's not very aggressive or energetic. Music represents the track's sonic highlight in terms of general activity levels. Everything else is straightforward, with some rowdy classroom scenes and busy location din taking second place. Light exterior atmospherics are nicely integrated as the track gently makes use of every speaker in the configuration to paint a pleasing picture of the film's undemanding sonic landscape. Dialogue is the main driver. It's clear, intelligible, center positioned, and well prioritized from start to finish. Like the video, it's unremarkable but more than capable in carrying the film's meager sonic needs.

Patrick Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Patrick contains one supplement. Behind the Scenes Featurette (1080p, 5:20) features a plot summary, a look at animal acting, a breakdown of human performances, a glimpse into story themes, and offers praise for Mandie Fletcher's writing and direction. There are also, annoyingly, non-skippable trailers upon disc startup for Change in the Air and Literally, Right Before Aaron, neither of which are on Blu-ray (which is a shame, because Change in the Air looks intriguing). No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Patrick Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Patrick is a film of simple charms and trite delights. It follows familiar beats and ventures through to predictable territory for its middle stretch and final act. The dog is cute and acts well on the screen and Edmondson is charming enough in the lead. Screen Media's Blu-ray delivers capable video and audio. One extra is included, and please do away with the forced trailers. Worth a look, particularly at the $5 price point where this disc sits at time of publication.