I saw this last month at the 2009 Palm Springs International Film Festival. Based on a play by Michael Drucker and adapted for the screen by writer/director Ella Lemhagen this is the story of a gay couple living in white picket fence suburban neighborhood run by a homeowners association and populated by an all straight community. Goran Skoogh (Gustaf Skarsgard) and Sven Skoogh (Torkel Petersson)ave taken a singular surname, complete with wedding rings and a marriage but they want to adopt and raise an infant child to round out their marriage and live as a family. They have been put on a long waiting list to find a child they can raise from a baby and finally one becomes available. Or so it seems. A typing error that should have read Patrik, age 15 has been mistyped by the social service agency as Patrik 1,5. Believing they are about to bring into their lives an year and half old infant they are shocked to discover their baby is actually 15 years old, homophobic and with a history of delinquency and violence. Sven was once in a straight relationship and has an ex wife and a teenage daughter. He is hesitant of raising any child again let alone a ready-made troubled teenager. Goran wants a baby desperately but can see the good and discovers he can help bring out the good in Patrik (Thomas Ljungman). Nice cinematography from Marek Wiesner and production design from Lene Willumsen which give the film a rich textured look. It's a good cast withe some interesting peripheral characters. It's not an edgy film but is light and humorous with a some touches of drama without coming across as a message movie and it has an appeal to a general audience. I liked it and would give it an 8.5 and recommend it.
Review of Patrik, Age 1.5
