Patch Town (2014)
Patch Town, inspired by the award-winning short film of the same name. After years in a loving home, Jon, a toy, was forgotten, deserted and ultimately betrayed by his adoptive mother. He returns to live a sad life as a worker on the line; a life of factory work and oppression in a place where hundreds of cabbage babies are born every day. The thankless task of shucking, picking, and processing these newborns to go out into the world and to their new mothers has taken its toll on Jon. With each new birth, Jon slips deeper into sadness, lamenting the days when life was good and he was loved.
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It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
"Patch Town" wanted to be a campy cult classic, sort of like "Repo! The Genetic Opera." What it ended up being was an awkward mish-mash of different genres that didn't combine well.While this film did get a few things right (like the Burton-esque visuals of the industrial Patch Town and one really pretty song towards the middle of the movie) it failed on a lot of counts. The "songs" are usually too short to be considered songs, but rather melodic interludes. A musical scene with the villain is downright awful and not sung, but rather talked with something resembling a melody in the background. The villain's vertically-challenged lackey is supposed to be some sort of comic relief, but his acting and delivery come off as awkward and not funny. The best characters in the movie are our protagonist and his wife. I will say I was quite happy to see a movie with a protagonist that is not "Hollywood Hunk" handsome. He had a nice singing voice, too! So did that girl playing his wife!I know what the creators of "Patch Town" were TRYING to do. They wanted to make a campy cult classic, but the all-over-the-place story, failed humor, and constant shifts in tone really ruined it for me. I will give it points for originality, though.
A film that mixes Eighties nostalgia, fairy tale fantasy, shady industrialism and Christmas magic, Patch Town is a film that "normal" people will likely not enjoy. It's undoubtedly a weird one and you've gotta be a little eccentric yourself to get the gist of its imagination and creativity. I felt that the CGI was rather out-of-place in such a quaint and retro styled film, however it does work quite well on some occasions. And my only other complaint is that as a musical, it has corny songs popping up during the most important scenes in the story which takes away from the pace of the film. Either way, still an amazing and yet criminally underrated and obscure one.The story follows Jon (Rob Ramsay), an overweight factory worker who lives in a housing project with his beloved wife and an illegally obtained baby, Daisy. (the film Eraserhead comes to mind). Jon used to be a doll and his "mother", Bethany (Zoie Palmer) regarded him as an imaginary friend in childhood. Jon dreams of a real life with his family in the real world, however Patch Town is controlled by Yuri (Julian Richings), a strict, standoffish and yet very depressed and forlorn man who has taken over his father's business and is the primary villain in the story. Yuri wants a family of his own just like Jon, however Yuri is ruthless and ends up deciding to have his lackey, Kenny, kidnap Bethany and her young daughter, Avery, as a surrogate family for himself. Meanwhile Jon and his wife (Stephanie Pitsiladis) hitch a ride with Sly (Suresh John), a former doll who now offers asylum to those who wish to escape. Jon attempts to get a job playing a shopping mall Santa Claus, however when he discovers that Kenny has stolen Bethany's daughter (Kayla DiVenere), he plans to rescue her and reunite with Bethany in the process.Excellent story, scenery, soundtrack, but best of all was the acting. Ramsay is hilarious as Jon, being the kindhearted and yet naive hero hanging out of the back of a transfer truck, high on a sugar rush and shouting "CANDY!" at the top of his lungs. Suresh gives the film a dose of comic relief as Sly, a man with the personality of a shifty used car salesman but who really wants to help Bethany. Yuri was an exceptionally interesting corrupt corporate villain, however I ended up just feeling sorry for him when he starts crying and saying that all he wants is a family, and they give him electroshock memory removal. Pretty sad. Pitsiladis as Jon's loving and strong-willed 1950's-dressed wife, does an amazing acting job, and of course Palmer as Bethany, a skeptical woman who doesn't want to believe that her doll came to life, is very talented, too. Patch Town reminded me slightly of Eraserhead, and Edward Scissorhands and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Its humor is based more on subtle imagery and funny quotes, which is refreshing since most films like this today are vulgar and full of sex jokes and swearing and crude humor. Patch Town might scare really little kids but it's still a film that adults and older children can both enjoy. It deserves a much better reputation and I hope it gets it.
Had amazing time watching Patchtown !A movie which mix all kind of genres in one, and so hard to put in a "case genre" thanks to the diversity it offers. It's kind of a musical tale but dark, and in the same time touching, and with a lot of humors ! Your feelings are never settled and challenged during the whole movie and I loved that :)Being a huge fan of Zoie Palmer, I bought and wanted watch this movie, first of all for her. She offers us again here an other side of her huge talent with the incredible performance as Bethany. And if I knew a bit some of the others actors, I discovered better in this movie their work, and discovered new ones too. Rob Ramsey is indeed so amazing and so touching (also what a singer !) as Jon, as Julian R. just brilliant .., and Suresh John made me laugh out loud whit the hilarious Sly :) And sooo happy to see the wonderful Allana H. in the cast too ! Well, just a big Bravo to the whole actors, team, crew, on the amazing movie there which is Patchtown !!To watch and re-watch !
This is a very weird movie indeed. The humor and tone is kind of all over the place. Someone compared it a bit to early Gilliam and they might not be off too much. While this is uneven, it still delivers many times. It's kind of amazing and has great ideas. Those help recover some of the rough patches that lie on the way ahead (no pun intended), so that the viewer won't mind too much.The effects are good, but you have to like the way the characters are made of course (Tim Burton was mentioned too in that commentary by another user). While its a wild story, it still is predictable enough and does include clichés. That's the uneven part for you, like it or hate it