****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
"You wanna know another thing I hate? Senseless evil."Having perused the IMDB comments for "It's Pat," it looks like most people genuinely LOATHE this film. I really don't understand why. Yes, there are only so many "is it a man or woman?" type of jokes that one can stand but, much like the MacGruber movie, there is much much more to the movie than the simple premise of the original SNL skit.As for the Pat character, if you find him/her annoying as hell, then the film achieved its purpose. Pat's unfounded hubris and complete inability to self-reflect presaged many characters that are very popular in comedies today--e.g., Will Ferrell's Ricky Bobby and Ron Burgundy, or Danny's McBride's Kenny Powers. But again, the movie doesn't hinge on the Pat character; there is much else worth noting.For me, the insanely fast, downward-spiral transformation of Pat's neighbor, Kyle, is absolutely hysterical and is worth watching on its own. Without his character, the film would have been considerably worse-off, in my opinion. Plus the film has all the senseless silliness of other SNL movies (e.g., Wayne's World), plus lots of great cameos (Dave Foley is great, of course, as is Tim Meadows, and many others).In sum, it's really easy to hate the Pat character (which, again, is exactly Pat's purpose). Unlike, say, Kenny Powers, Pat has absolutely NO redeeming qualities. Thus, it is really easy to simply transfer hatred of Pat into hatred for this film. But watching it a bit more closely, and appreciating the clever, more subtle silliness of some of the film's parts, is totally worth it. If you like some of the more deranged SNL comedies (e.g., MacGruber and Wayne's World), I really don't understand why you wouldn't find this film funny. And, in contrast to some of the other early 90s comedies (e.g., ones that relied on a lot of slapstick humor), I actually think the subtle, occasionally demented style of humor in It's Pat holds up remarkably well to today's off-beat comedies. It's not as under-rated as Dirty Work (which is sheer brilliance), but it is under-rated nonetheless. Give it a chance!
