If “Patrik, Age 1.5” is somewhat more of a self-conscious “issue movie” than the current “The Kids Are All Right,” it may be because of the timing of each film’s look at gay parenting.
“The Kids Are All Right” presents the subject as a long-past matter of fact, with two teenagers having problems that have little to do with the sexual orientation of their mothers. “Patrik,” on the other hand, is about the process of two men adopting a child together.
The couple in question in “Patrik” is Goran (Gustaf Skarsgard), who is gung-ho to be a father, and Sven (Torkel Petersson), who already has a sullen teenage daughter from a previous marriage and who is somewhat less enthusiastic about the whole domestic-tranquility thing.
They’ve just moved into a candy-colored suburban neighborhood, like something out of “Edward Scissorhands,” where everybody knows everybody else’s business. The neighbors seem cool with the whole gay-marriage deal — I mean it’s Sweden, right? Well, mostly.
The adoption agency isn’t quite so agreeable on that subject, but Goran and Sven finally are able to anticipate the arrival of a child named Patrik, who is 1.5 years old, according to the papers.
The movie’s gimmick kicks into gear with the arrival of an angry, homophobic 15-year-old (Thomas Ljungman), also named Patrik. Must be some sort of bureaucratic mix-up.
Also some sort of plot device. And director Ella Lemhagen doesn’t really get the movie to rise too far above its sitcom set-up, although it moves along at a nice clip and has solid performances all the way around.
Goran Skarsgard (the son of Stellan Skarsgard, the international star of “Mamma Mia” and many other films) creates a likable small-town doctor — a far cry from his performance in the Swedish film “Evil.” His character is the kind who will yank out a neighbor’s flower beds in a moment of anger, only to carefully replace them back in the ground after a few moments’ reconsideration.
“Patrik” has the virtue of a wonderful final scene (plus a very amusing end-credits shot), giving it just the right afterglow. That counts for a lot, and an arthouse audience will surely adopt it without hesitation.
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