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It's Pat

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It's Pat
A large person stands naked in the center of the poster, with a big pink question mark covering their body
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAdam Bernstein
Screenplay by
Based onThe character
by Julia Sweeney
Produced byCharles B. Wessler
Starring
CinematographyJeff Jur
Edited byNorman Hollyn
Music byMark Mothersbaugh
Production
company
Distributed byBuena Vista Pictures Distribution
Release date
  • August 26, 1994(1994-08-26)(United States)
Running time
78 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8 million[1]
Box office$60,822[2]

It's Patis a 1994 Americanslapstickcomedy filmdirected byAdam Bernsteinand starringJulia Sweeney,Dave Foley,Charles Rocket,andKathy Griffin.The film was based on theSaturday Night Live(SNL) characterPat,created by Sweeney, anandrogynousmisfit whose gender is never revealed. Dave Foley plays Pat's partner Chris, and Charles Rocket, anotherSNLalumnus, plays Pat's neighbor Kyle.

The film was released in only thirty-three theatres in three cities in the United States.It's Patwas universally panned by critics, andbombed at the box office,only grossing $60,822 against its $8 million budget.

Plot

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Pat Riley is a chubby, whiny, and obnoxious job-hopper of indeterminate gender who is searching for a steady foundation in life. Pat falls in love with Chris (whose gender is also unrevealed to the audience) and the two get engaged. Meanwhile, Pat's neighbor Kyle develops an unhealthy obsession with identifying Pat's gender, and begins stalking them. He sends a tape of Pat performingkaraoketo a TV show calledAmerica's Creepiest People,bringing them to the attention of the bandWeen,who feature Pat in one of their performances, playing thetuba.When Pat learns that Ween intended to only use them for one gig, Pat and Chris break up.

Kyle steals Pat's laptop containing their diary and tries to coerce them into revealing the computer's password, so he can access the files. When Pat only answers that it's a word in the dictionary, Kyle begins manually trying every word in a dictionary. He eventually succeeds with the password "zythum"(an Egyptian malt beer), and reads the diary, but does not find the answer to his question, and finally snaps.

Meanwhile, a gang of thugs with the same goal begin harassing Pat, who becomes distraught over the thugs' use of the term "androgynous". Pat complains to Kathy, a friend who is a therapist and host of a radio talk show. When Pat gives acerbic reactions to call-in listeners, the station fires Kathy and replaces her with Pat.

Kyle calls into Pat's radio show saying he has Pat's laptop, and sets up a meeting at theRipley's Believe It or Not! Museumto retrieve it. Pat arrives to find Kyle dressed exactly like them. Kyle demands that Pat strip naked, but Pat runs off into a Ween concert. After Kyle corners them on acatwalk,Pat falls. Their pants get torn off by a hook and they are lowered with their genitalia exposed to the cheering concert audience, but not to Kyle nor the viewer. Kyle is subsequently taken away by security guards. Pat then runs to see Chris, just as Chris is leaving on an ocean liner. In an epilogue, Pat and Chris marry.

During the end credits, Kathy is now hosting her radio show again and the first caller is Kyle, whose obsession with Pat has driven him to cross-dressing.

Cast

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Production

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The film was written by Sweeney, Jim Emerson (Sweeney's friend from their days withThe Groundlings[3]), and Sweeney's former husband Stephen Hibbert.[3]While at the Groundlings, Emerson suggested that the character Pat, at the time a "character based on annoying co-workers who don't leave you alone", be made androgynous.[3]

Three months before the film's release, Sweeney commented on her initial reluctance to do a film based on Pat:[4]

I resisted it completely. I just didn't know how we could make it last for two hours. But20th Century Foxwas really keen; our producer was really keen. So we thought, OK, we'll write the script. And after three months, we fell madly in love with the script. Unfortunately, Fox did not.

Touchstone Picturesdecided to produce the film, after Fox bowed out.[4]

Quentin Tarantinorevealed that he was an uncredited writer on the script.[5][6]

Reception

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It's Pathasa rare 0% ratingonRotten Tomatoes,based on 11 reviews.[7]

Varietymagazine called the film "shockingly unfunny", noting that Sweeney had "perversely turned the relatively harmless TV character into a boorish, egotistical creep for the bigscreen", the film's "only really funny bit isSexual PersonaeauthorCamille Paglia,deftly parodying herself, commenting on the significance of Pat'sandrogyny".[8]Kevin Thomas of theLos Angeles Timeswrote: "It's Patoffers a simple message of self-acceptance, asserting that what counts is who you are rather than what your gender may or may not be. The trouble is that its telling is truly terrible. "[9]TV Guidecalled it "yet another tepid film comedy based on a recurringSaturday Night Livesketch ". They conclude" the story goes nowhere, and if the film ran longer than its 80 minutes, it would have become too tedious to tolerate ".[10]

The film opened in only three cities[11](33 theaters[2]). Its total gross was $60,822. As a result, the film was pulled from theaters after its opening weekend.[citation needed]

Accolades

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It's Patwas a multiple third place nominee at the16th Golden Raspberry Awards,though the film's cast and crew lost in every category toShowgirls:

At the1995 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards,the film was nominated for Worst Picture but lost toShowgirls.However, Julia Sweeney did win Worst Actress for this film. Later, the Stinkers released their user-constructed "100 Years, 100 Stinkers" list in which visitors determined the 100 worst movies of the 20th century.It's Patranked in the bottom 20 at #7.[12][13]

Soundtrack

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No soundtrack album was released. The songs fromIt's Patare listed below as shown within the film's credits:[citation needed]

  1. "It's Pat Theme" - Christina Zander,Julia Sweeney,Cheryl Hardwick
  2. "Walz Pompadour" (written by Tom Elliot)
  3. "Poem of Crickets" (written by trường trạch thắng tuấn (Katsutoshi Nagasawa))
  4. "Delta Swelter" -Gary Fletcher,Paul Jones,Dave Kelly,Tom McGuinness,Bob Townsend
  5. "The Cool Look" -Johnny Hawksworth
  6. "Brain Women" -Mark Mothersbaugh
  7. "Everybody Loves Somebody"- Julia Sweeney
  8. "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"-Aerosmith
  9. "Le Freak"- Julia Sweeney
  10. "Paero" - Phillippe Lhommt, Jacques Mercier
  11. "Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese" -Ween
  12. "How's It Gonna Be" -The Dead Milkmen
  13. "Bring It to Me" - Collective Thoughts
  14. "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)" - Ween
  15. "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me"-Gladys Knight & the Pips

References

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  1. ^It's Pat: Julia Sweeney's gender-bending character goes to Hollywood, but can he... er... she... er... er... Pat cross over?Archived2018-01-21 at theWayback Machine,a September 1994 article fromRolling Stone>
  2. ^abIt's PatatBox Office Mojo
  3. ^abcPat's World — It's Funny Business, Hard Work And A Little Too Much Attention For Julia SweeneyArchived2015-02-22 at theWayback Machine,a January 1993 article fromThe Seattle Times
  4. ^abUp From the Tube, but Then Down the Drain,a May 1994 article fromThe New York Times
  5. ^Peary, Gerald (1998).Quentin Tarantino: interviews.United States of America: University Press of Missouri. pp. xviii, 126.ISBN1-57806-050-8.
  6. ^"Interview: Quentin Tarantino".Playboy.November 1994.Archivedfrom the original on 2015-02-14.Retrieved2013-01-13.
  7. ^It's PatatRotten Tomatoes
  8. ^Joe Leydon (August 25, 1994)."Review ofIt's Pat".Variety magazine.Archivedfrom the original on October 24, 2012.RetrievedApril 20,2020.
  9. ^Kevin Thomas (February 3, 1995)."MOVIE REVIEW: 'It's Pat' Takes Ambiguous Look at Life".Los Angeles Times.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-08-02.Retrieved2019-08-02.
  10. ^"It's Pat".TVGuide.com.Archivedfrom the original on 2019-08-02.Retrieved2019-08-02.
  11. ^How I Spent My Cancer Vacation,a December 1996 article fromTimemagazine
  12. ^"The 100 Worst Films of the 20th Century".The Stinkers.Archived fromthe originalon January 24, 2002.Retrieved18 September2019.
  13. ^"The Top 10 Worst Films of All Time".The Stinkers.Archived fromthe originalon February 2, 2002.Retrieved18 September2019.
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