Patrick (2018) - Movie Review

After the scourge of talking animal movies audiences have been inflicted with this year, today’s film should come across as a pleasant reprieve. Yes, the title character and main narrative engine is an animal, but we’re not stuck with stupid and/or contrived dialogue to give it a reason for being here. Instead, it serves as main character Sarah’s wake-up call. Played with immense likeability by Beattie Edmondson, Sarah finds herself in an uncannily familiar rom-com situation: Unlucky in love, chomping on snack food on the couch in her pyjamas post-breakup, and in need of some control in her life. After the death of her grandmother, she is left with Granny’s beloved pug Patrick. Hijinks ensue.

Love & Friendship (2016) - Movie Review

Given my willingness to accept frankly insane and rather low-brow themes and narratives in my cinema, I might have depicted myself as a fairly low-brow critic, despite my intentions of reading into films as best I can. And no other statement I’ve made will end up lending more credence to that than this: I’m really not that big on costume dramas. Not to say that there are examples that I have come to like: Branagh’s Much Ado About Nothing is one of my favourite adaptations of the Bard on screen. It’s just that the usual unmistakable stuffiness that pervades a lot of what we consider to be costume dramas never really works for me. It’s often too ingrained in a lifestyle so far removed from my own that, even for a guy who loves the fantastical, I find it hard to get invested. But hey, maybe today’s film could change that; if I’ve learnt anything this year, it’s that potential for success can exist in just about any sub-genre. But somehow, I doubt it.