Patrik, Age 1.5 (2008)

Expected more

Best movie of this year hands down!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

A film all based on qui pro quos. A gay married couple in Sweden comes into a new neighbourhood. Goran is a doctor and Sven is his husband. They were accepted for adoption but they were finally answered that no country in the world accepts to entrust a child for adoption to a homosexual couple. The deception is great but one day a letter arrives from social services. It contains a mistake and they are announced they will get a child of 1.5 years of age, Patrik is his name.Unluckily the kid that arrives is in fact 15, mother dead, father unknown, ten years in foster homes and institutions, a lot of delinquent acts, etc. Sven panics completely whereas Goran accepts the child, or rather teenager. Strangely enough Patrik is going to help Goran and Sven get accepted in the neighbourhood because he becomes the gardener of everyone, for money of course, and he becomes the skateboard coach of the kids in the street, etc.The end is a happy ending of course and it is not the real interest of the film. The real interest is to show that after and beyond all kinds of prejudices people deeply need at any age simple contact with others, contact that is called love and that it has nothing to do with sex really. Love is the food of angels and all children, and all people should be angels and get their ration, and even more that that everyday, of love.And it is so simple at times to find what can give someone the certainty they are loved, the guarantee they will be loved. Of course it is not simple and it cannot be easy to do but it is needed, provided people get out of their fears and fear is bigotry most of the time. We have no reason to be afraid of anything. To give a child one's own shirt for that child to look good when he needs to look good is more important than all the treasures of Arabia.That's the message of this film, and as such it works marvellously.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU

This movie made me laugh and cry. I rarely watch films about gay men, but I must say this film was exceptional. It alludes to intimacy without actual sex scenes. The character development is a little bit questionable, but possible. The main theme though,if you can get past the fact that it is about 2 gay male partners, is the resolution of a blended family. It is also about people becoming more accepting of gay marriage and adoption. I thought the acting was great and the plot believable.I rarely watch foreign films with subtitles, but I must say they were in large type and did not interfere with my enjoyment of the movie. If you don't like movies with happy endings this is not for you.

The Birdcage (1996), Reinas (2005), The Wedding Banquet (1993), Law of Desire (1987)... many good films have been made about gay people's relationships with each other and their straight friends and families. Ella Lemhagen's 2008 drama-comedy Patrik 1,5 is the first film I have seen from the director but joins the above movies in the category of watchable gay comedies.The plot goes as follows: Göran and Sven Skoogh (Gustaf Skarsgård and Torkel Petersson) are a happily married gay couple who have recently moved into an idyllic new suburb and are anxious to adopt a baby. However, they find their dream difficult to realize since no foreign country is willing to give a child to a gay couple and suitable Swedish babies are difficult to find. They are overjoyed upon hearing that an orphaned 18-month old baby has become available for adoption but are dismayed when their baby Patrik turns out to be a 15-year old homophobic delinquent (Thomas Ljungman) due to a typographical error in the adoption documents.With a premise like this, one could expect the story to be a sappy tale of overcoming prejudices which carries a laughably obvious message like "gays are people too" but luckily that is not the whole point of Patrik 1,5. Sure, Sven and Göran do encounter homophobia, ranging from kids calling them names to the neighbours "forgetting" to send them an invitation to a house party, but ultimately the story focuses much more on the characters' relationships with each other, be they gay or not. In fact, the movie does not find it necessary at all to specifically point out that it is OK to be gay as it goes without saying right from the start. A less subtle film could have been built entirely around stereotypes like effeminate clothing, lispy voices and giggly flamboyancy but the couple in Patrik 1,5 is completely ordinary and very likable (if also a bit generic and unmemorable, like average people are) – the film laughs with them, not at them. A downside would be that in its quest for ordinariness, the film does not differ very much from many other movies about parenthood.Although the overall mood and "message" of the film are thoroughly sympathetic, its basis as a feel-good dramedy lessens the effect of the serious drama plot regarding Göran's suspicions of Sven not being the right guy for him after all. More masculine than his partner, Sven is not free of prejudices himself and acts in a very hostile manner toward Patrik who always comes across as more scared than tough (even surprisingly so, being a convicted delinquent and all). When the focus is subsequently turned to the budding friendship of Göran and Patrik, the gay theme becomes secondary and the film plays out like any family drama of a sullen kid opening up in a loving family. Cheesiness is not entirely avoided although the actors do a very good job throughout, particularly Skarsgård and Petersson as the lead couple.Besides the cheese, other complaints about the movie could include things like occasionally overly shaky camera work and the somewhat underdeveloped character of Sven's daughter Isabell (Amanda Davin). The hostilities between the super-friendly Göran and the secretly sensitive Patrik also dissolve unrealistically quickly but I guess they wanted to keep the mood on the lighter side after all so wallowing in past traumas could not be paid too much attention. Nonetheless, I liked Lemhagen's film alright and greatly prefer it to, for instance, the Adam Sandler comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (2007) that wanted both to make fun of gays and promote their acceptance at the same time. In the end, Patrik 1,5 is certainly a movie about more than just gay issues and can be recommend to anyone looking for a positive little tale of family relationships.

.....guy....this Goran....this Gustaf Skarsgard....this standout performer.Once you've seen this little film, you will realize it is this actor who is the heart and the soul of this story-with-a-twist. Here's a performer whose every thought is readable in his face.....whose every emotion makes its way across to us. And you know what is extra special about this? It's that no one can just "act" these things; these are things you have to "be"....within yourself. In other words, I think the Skarsgard we see on screen is the very same man off screen---and who of us wouldn't want a someone like that?And if Skarsgard is all of that, then it is Tom Ljungman, as Patrik, who is the zest and the vitality of this movie....the one who makes it all gel. Wherever Sweden was able to come up with such an accomplished SIXTEEN year old is beyond me. The only thing left to say about this young man is, "Gustaf Skarsgard, you'd better watch out; someone is hard on your heels."Oh, and I don't think any of us would kick a Torkel Petersson (Sven) out of....ahem...., either.Postscript for The Wonderful Director (Underbar Direktör): Dear Ella Lemhagen....The ONLY thing this most satisfied movie viewer could think of to change in this exceptional film would be the Closing Credits and its "Crosscountry Run." Of course, you know the place I mean (new viewers will have to see it for themselves). A full of Urin + Vinegar Patrik (Age 1.5) would be in the "leading lane".....followed closely by Daddy Goran.....then Papa Sven.....and bringing up the rear, daughter Isabell (who can even keep Patrik on his toes). ****