It's Pat
Encyclopedia
It's Pat, also known as It's Pat: The Movie, is a 1994 comedy film
directed by Adam Bernstein
and starring Julia Sweeney
, Dave Foley
, Charles Rocket
, and Kathy Griffin
. The film was based on the Saturday Night Live
(SNL) character Pat
created by Sweeney, an androgynous
misfit whose sex is never revealed.
Dave Foley
plays Pat's partner, Chris, and Charles Rocket
, another SNL alumnus, plays Pat's neighbor, Kyle Jacobsen.
) is an obnoxious job-hopper of indeterminable sex who is searching for a steady foundation in his/her life. Pat encounters Chris (Dave Foley
), a person of similarly indeterminable sex, and the two fall in love and get engaged. Meanwhile, Pat's neighbor, Kyle Jacobsen (Charles Rocket
), develops an unhealthy obsession with unveiling Pat's sex and begins stalking
him/her. Kyle sends in a tape of Pat performing karaoke
to a TV show called America's Creepiest People, bringing him/her to the attention of the band Ween
, who features him/her in one of their performances playing the tuba
. Pat becomes distraught when he/she learns that Ween intended to only use him/her for one gig, then breaks up with Chris, and discovers that his/her laptop diary has been stolen.
Later, it turns out that Kyle stole Pat's diary, and he tries coercing Pat into revealing the computer's password so he can access the files. Pat's only answer is that the word is in the dictionary. Kyle then begins typing in every single word in the dictionary. Meanwhile, Pat is harassed by a gang of thugs intent on discovering his/her sex, and Pat becomes distraught over his/her androgynous nature. He/she goes to complain to his/her friend, Kathy (Kathy Griffin
), host of a radio talk show and therapist
, but the station fires Kathy and hires Pat due to his/her acerbic reactions to call-in listeners. Kyle ends up going through the entire dictionary until he reaches the last word, "zythum" (Egyptian malt beer), which is the password. After reading through the diary, he discovers no new information in regards to Pat's gender, and finally snaps.
Kyle calls Pat on his/her radio show, and tells him/her to meet him at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum if Pat ever wants to see his/her laptop again. Pat arrives to find Kyle dressed exactly like him/her. Kyle demands that Pat remove his/her clothes, and Pat runs off into a Ween
concert. After Kyle corners him/her on a catwalk, Pat falls and his/her clothes get caught on a hook, tearing off his/her pants and lowering him/her in front of the cheering audience (not revealing his/her sex to Kyle or the viewers). Kyle is subsequently taken away by security guards. Pat then runs to see Chris just as he/she is leaving on an ocean liner, and the two get married in an epilogue
.
, and Sweeney's former husband Stephen Hibbert
. While at the Groundlings it had been Emerson who had suggested Pat
, at the time a "character based on annoying co-workers who don't leave you alone", become androgynous.
Three months before the film's release, Sweeney commented on her initial reluctance to do a film based on Pat:
Touchstone Pictures
decided to produce the film after Fox bowed out.
Quentin Tarantino
admitted being an uncredited writer of the script.
. Variety
magazine 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 is Sexual Personae
author Camille Paglia
, deftly parodying herself, commenting on the significance of Pat's androgyny." On the website DigitialDreamDoor.com's 100 worst movies list, It's Pat ranks at #37. It currently ranks #90 on IMDB's Bottom 100.
The film opened in only three cities. Its total gross was just $60,822, although this figure has been disputed by cinema historian Greg Gaul of Princeton University. In an unfortunate coincidence, the weekend that it opened to box office failure
was also the weekend that Sweeney received serious news about a family member. According to Sweeney, "The movie bombed on Friday, and on Sunday [her brother] Mike called saying he was very sick and didn't have insurance
." The subsequent events, including the death of her brother, became the subject of her one-woman show and film God said "Ha!".
:
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
directed by Adam Bernstein
Adam Bernstein
Adam Bernstein is an American film, music video and television director and screenwriter. He was born in Princeton, New Jersey...
and starring Julia Sweeney
Julia Sweeney
Julia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
, Dave Foley
Dave Foley
David Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...
, Charles Rocket
Charles Rocket
Charles Rocket was an American film and television actor, notable for his tenure as a cast member on Saturday Night Live as well as for his appearances as the villain Nicholas Andre in the film Dumb and Dumber; as Dave Dennison, the father in Disney's Hocus Pocus.-Early life and career:Rocket was...
, and Kathy Griffin
Kathy Griffin
Kathleen Mary "Kathy" Griffin is an American actress, stand-up comedienne, television personality, New York Times best-selling author and an LGBT rights advocate. Griffin first gained recognition for appearances on two episodes of Seinfeld, and then for her supporting role on the NBC sitcom...
. The film was based on the Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
(SNL) character Pat
Pat (Saturday Night Live)
Pat was an androgynous fictional character created and performed by Julia Sweeney for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and later featured in the film It's Pat...
created by Sweeney, an androgynous
Androgyny
Androgyny is a term derived from the Greek words ανήρ, stem ανδρ- and γυνή , referring to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics...
misfit whose sex is never revealed.
Dave Foley
Dave Foley
David Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...
plays Pat's partner, Chris, and Charles Rocket
Charles Rocket
Charles Rocket was an American film and television actor, notable for his tenure as a cast member on Saturday Night Live as well as for his appearances as the villain Nicholas Andre in the film Dumb and Dumber; as Dave Dennison, the father in Disney's Hocus Pocus.-Early life and career:Rocket was...
, another SNL alumnus, plays Pat's neighbor, Kyle Jacobsen.
Plot
Pat Riley (Julia SweeneyJulia Sweeney
Julia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
) is an obnoxious job-hopper of indeterminable sex who is searching for a steady foundation in his/her life. Pat encounters Chris (Dave Foley
Dave Foley
David Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...
), a person of similarly indeterminable sex, and the two fall in love and get engaged. Meanwhile, Pat's neighbor, Kyle Jacobsen (Charles Rocket
Charles Rocket
Charles Rocket was an American film and television actor, notable for his tenure as a cast member on Saturday Night Live as well as for his appearances as the villain Nicholas Andre in the film Dumb and Dumber; as Dave Dennison, the father in Disney's Hocus Pocus.-Early life and career:Rocket was...
), develops an unhealthy obsession with unveiling Pat's sex and begins stalking
Stalker
-In media:* Stalker , a 1995 dark ambient album by Lustmord & Robert Rich, inspired by the film* Stalker , an episode of the American television series CSI...
him/her. Kyle sends in a tape of Pat performing karaoke
Karaoke
is a form of interactive entertainment or video game in which amateur singers sing along with recorded music using a microphone and public address system. The music is typically a well-known pop song minus the lead vocal. Lyrics are usually displayed on a video screen, along with a moving symbol,...
to a TV show called America's Creepiest People, bringing him/her to the attention of the band Ween
Ween
Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
, who features him/her in one of their performances playing the tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
. Pat becomes distraught when he/she learns that Ween intended to only use him/her for one gig, then breaks up with Chris, and discovers that his/her laptop diary has been stolen.
Later, it turns out that Kyle stole Pat's diary, and he tries coercing Pat into revealing the computer's password so he can access the files. Pat's only answer is that the word is in the dictionary. Kyle then begins typing in every single word in the dictionary. Meanwhile, Pat is harassed by a gang of thugs intent on discovering his/her sex, and Pat becomes distraught over his/her androgynous nature. He/she goes to complain to his/her friend, Kathy (Kathy Griffin
Kathy Griffin
Kathleen Mary "Kathy" Griffin is an American actress, stand-up comedienne, television personality, New York Times best-selling author and an LGBT rights advocate. Griffin first gained recognition for appearances on two episodes of Seinfeld, and then for her supporting role on the NBC sitcom...
), host of a radio talk show and therapist
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...
, but the station fires Kathy and hires Pat due to his/her acerbic reactions to call-in listeners. Kyle ends up going through the entire dictionary until he reaches the last word, "zythum" (Egyptian malt beer), which is the password. After reading through the diary, he discovers no new information in regards to Pat's gender, and finally snaps.
Kyle calls Pat on his/her radio show, and tells him/her to meet him at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum if Pat ever wants to see his/her laptop again. Pat arrives to find Kyle dressed exactly like him/her. Kyle demands that Pat remove his/her clothes, and Pat runs off into a Ween
Ween
Ween is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
concert. After Kyle corners him/her on a catwalk, Pat falls and his/her clothes get caught on a hook, tearing off his/her pants and lowering him/her in front of the cheering audience (not revealing his/her sex to Kyle or the viewers). Kyle is subsequently taken away by security guards. Pat then runs to see Chris just as he/she is leaving on an ocean liner, and the two get married in an epilogue
Epilogue
An epilogue, epilog or afterword is a piece of writing at the end of a work of literature or drama, usually used to bring closure to the work...
.
Cast
- Julia SweeneyJulia SweeneyJulia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
as Pat RileyPat (Saturday Night Live)Pat was an androgynous fictional character created and performed by Julia Sweeney for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and later featured in the film It's Pat... - Dave FoleyDave FoleyDavid Scott "Dave" Foley is a Canadian comedian, writer, director, and producer best known for his work in The Kids in the Hall, NewsRadio, A Bug's Life, and Celebrity Poker Showdown...
as Chris - Charles RocketCharles RocketCharles Rocket was an American film and television actor, notable for his tenure as a cast member on Saturday Night Live as well as for his appearances as the villain Nicholas Andre in the film Dumb and Dumber; as Dave Dennison, the father in Disney's Hocus Pocus.-Early life and career:Rocket was...
as Kyle Jacobsen - Kathy GriffinKathy GriffinKathleen Mary "Kathy" Griffin is an American actress, stand-up comedienne, television personality, New York Times best-selling author and an LGBT rights advocate. Griffin first gained recognition for appearances on two episodes of Seinfeld, and then for her supporting role on the NBC sitcom...
as Herself - Julie Hayden as Stacy Jacobsen
- Timothy StackTimothy StackTimothy Stack is an American film and television actor and screenwriter.-Life and career:He was born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, the son of Joan and Tom Stack. He graduated from the esteemed Philadelphia-area prep school Germantown Academy in 1973 and graduated from Boston College in 1978...
as Doctor - Mary ScheerMary ScheerMary Scheer is an American actress and comedian. She is best known as one of the original cast members of the sketch comedy series MADtv and for playing Freddie's mother, Marissa Benson, on iCarly...
as Nurse - Beverly LeechBeverly LeechBeverly Leech is an American actress who is perhaps best-known for her portrayal of Kate Monday on Square One TV's Mathnet....
as Mrs. Riley - Tim Meadows as KVIB-FM manager
- Phil LaMarrPhil LaMarrPhillip "Phil" LaMarr is an American actor, comedian and voice actor. One of the original cast members on the sketch comedy series MADtv, he is also known for his small, but memorable role as Marvin in Pulp Fiction...
as Stage manager - Larry HankinLarry HankinLarry Hankin is an American actor, performer, director and producer.Hankin studied acting at Syracuse University. He is known for his roles in TV shows Friends and Seinfeld; as well as for his major role in the movie Escape from Alcatraz with Clint Eastwood...
as Postal supervisor - Kathy NajimyKathy NajimyKathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
as Tippy - Jerry Tondo as Sushi chef
- Philip McNiven as Sushi customer
- Dean WeenDean WeenDean Ween is the stage name of Michael "Mickey" Melchiondo, Jr., American guitarist and half of the alternative rock group Ween.-Biography:...
as Himself - Gene WeenGene WeenAaron Freeman , best known as Gene Ween, is a musician and a founding member of the experimental alternative rock group Ween...
as Himself
Production
The film was written by Sweeney, Jim Emerson, Sweeney's friend from their days with The GroundlingsThe Groundlings
The Groundlings are an improvisational comedy troupe based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin to produce sketches and improvised scenes...
, and Sweeney's former husband Stephen Hibbert
Stephen Hibbert
Stephen Hibbert is American actor and comedy writer. He is perhaps best known for his role as the The Gimp in the Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction .-Career:Hibbert began his career as a member of the Los Angeles-based improv group The Groundlings...
. While at the Groundlings it had been Emerson who had suggested Pat
Pat (Saturday Night Live)
Pat was an androgynous fictional character created and performed by Julia Sweeney for the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, and later featured in the film It's Pat...
, at the time a "character based on annoying co-workers who don't leave you alone", become androgynous.
Three months before the film's release, Sweeney commented on her initial reluctance to do a film based on Pat:
- I resisted it completely. I just didn't know how we could make it last for two hours. But 20th Century Fox20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
was really keen; our producer was really keen. So we thought, O.K., we'll write the script. And after three months, we fell madly in love with the script. Unfortunately, Fox did not.
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
decided to produce the film after Fox bowed out.
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
admitted being an uncredited writer of the script.
Reception
It's Pat currently has a rare 0% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine 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 is Sexual Personae
Sexual Personae
Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson is a groundbreaking and controversial survey of sexual decadence in Western literature and the visual arts written by scholar Camille Paglia.-Overview:...
author Camille Paglia
Camille Paglia
Camille Anna Paglia , is an American author, teacher, and social critic. Paglia, a self-described dissident feminist, has been a Professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 1984...
, deftly parodying herself, commenting on the significance of Pat's androgyny." On the website DigitialDreamDoor.com's 100 worst movies list, It's Pat ranks at #37. It currently ranks #90 on IMDB's Bottom 100.
The film opened in only three cities. Its total gross was just $60,822, although this figure has been disputed by cinema historian Greg Gaul of Princeton University. In an unfortunate coincidence, the weekend that it opened to box office failure
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
was also the weekend that Sweeney received serious news about a family member. According to Sweeney, "The movie bombed on Friday, and on Sunday [her brother] Mike called saying he was very sick and didn't have insurance
Health insurance
Health insurance is insurance against the risk of incurring medical expenses among individuals. By estimating the overall risk of health care expenses among a targeted group, an insurer can develop a routine finance structure, such as a monthly premium or payroll tax, to ensure that money is...
." The subsequent events, including the death of her brother, became the subject of her one-woman show and film God said "Ha!".
Awards and nominations
It's Pat was a multiple nominee at the 16th Golden Raspberry Awards, though the film's cast and crew lost in every category to ShowgirlsShowgirls
Showgirls is a 1995 American drama film directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring former teen actress Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, and Gina Gershon...
:
- Worst Actress - Julia Sweeney
- Worst New Star - Julia Sweeney
- Worst Picture - Charles B. Wessler
- Worst Screen Couple - Dave Foley and Julia Sweeney
- Worst Screenplay - Jim Emerson, Stephen Hibbert, and Julia Sweeney
Soundtrack
No soundtrack album was released. The songs from It's Pat are listed below as shown within the film's credits:- "It's Pat Theme" - Christina Zander, Julia SweeneyJulia SweeneyJulia Anne Sweeney is an American actress, comedian and author best known as a cast member on Saturday Night Live and for her autobiographical solo shows.-Personal life:...
, Cheryl Hardwick - "Walz Pompadour" (written by Tom Elliot
- "Poem of Crickets" (written by 長沢 勝俊 (Katsutoshi NagasawaKatsutoshi Nagasawawas a Japanese composer of classical music with a modern approach. Nagasawa composed for traditional Japanese musical instruments .Nagasawa was born in 1923 in Tokyo and graduated from Nihon University...
) - "Delta Swelter" - Gary FletcherGary Fletcher (musician)Gary Fletcher is a British blues musician, best known for playing bass guitar with The Blues Band, he is also a guitarist and songwriter.-Early life:...
, Paul Jones, Dave KellyDave Kelly (musician)David 'Dave' Kelly , is a British bluessinger, guitarist and composer, who has been active on the British blues music scene since the 1960s...
, Tom McGuinness, Bob Townsend - "The Cool Look" - Johnny HawksworthJohnny HawksworthJohnny Hawksworth is a British musician and composer who has lived and worked in Australia since 1984.Hawksworth initially trained as a pianist, but also played double bass for Britain's leading big band the Ted Heath Orchestra during the early 1950s and through the 1960s...
- "Brain Women" - Mark MothersbaughMark MothersbaughMark Allen Mothersbaugh is an American musician, composer, singer and painter. He is the co-founder of the new wave band Devo and has been its lead singer since 1972. His other musical projects include work for television series, films, and video games....
- "Everybody Loves Somebody" - Julia Sweeney
- "Dude (Looks Like a Lady)Dude (Looks Like a Lady)"Dude " is a song by United States hard rock band Aerosmith. It was released as the first of three singles from the Permanent Vacation album in 1987. It reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, #41 on the Hot Dance Club Play chart, #4 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and peaked at #45 on the UK...
" - AerosmithAerosmithAerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many... - "Le FreakLe Freak"Le Freak" is a successful 1978 disco song by the disco band Chic. It was the band's third single album and first Billboard Hot 100 and soul music number-one song. Along with the tracks, "I Want Your Love" and "Chic Cheer", "Le Freak" scored number one on the disco charts for seven weeks...
" - Julia Sweeney - "Paero" - Phillippe Lhommt, Jacques Mercier
- "Pork Roll, Egg and Cheese" - WeenWeenWeen is an American alternative rock group. They formed in 1984 in New Hope, Pennsylvania when central members Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo met in an eighth grade typing class. Ween has a large cult underground fanbase despite being generally unknown in American pop music...
- "How's It Gonna Be" - Dead MilkmenDead MilkmenThe Dead Milkmen is an American satirical punk rock band formed in 1983 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They consisted of vocalist and keyboardist Rodney Linderman , guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro , bassist Dave Schulthise and drummer Dean Sabatino .Beginning within the local underground...
- "Bring It to Me" - Collective Thoughts
- "Don't Get 2 Close (2 My Fantasy)" - Ween
- "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to MeYou're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me"You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" — also known simply as "Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" — is a song written by Jim Weatherly, and enjoyed two runs of popularity, each by an artist in a different genre.-Ray Price country version:...
" - Gladys Knight & the PipsGladys Knight & the PipsGladys Knight & The Pips were an R&B/soul family musical act from Atlanta, Georgia, active from 1953 to 1989. The group was best known for their string of hit singles on Motown's "Soul" record label and Buddah Records from 1967 to 1975, including "I Heard It Through the Grapevine" and "Midnight...