Patrick's Vacation

Patrick's Vacation is a 2009 British family comedy film. The film was theatrically released on December 24, 2009 by Universal Pictures.

The film received mixed reviews from critics, but earned $129.7 million on a $25 million budget. Patrick's Vacation was released on DVD and HD DVD on 26 June 2010.

Plot
The film opens with Patrick driving up to a comminity centre, where a fete is taking place. Patrick wins the first prize in a raffle - a holiday involving a train journey to Cannes, a HD video camera, and €200.

Following a misunderstanding involving a taxi at the Gare du Nord railway station in Paris, Patrick is forced to make his way unorthodoxly towards the Gare de Lyon to board his next train towards Cannes. However, a vending machine prevents him from boarding, and he misses his train, giving him an hour to sample French seafood cuisine.

Back on the platform, Patrick asks Russian movie director Emil Duchevsk to use his camcorder to film him walking onto the train. Patrick makes a big fuss and keeps asking for retakes, so by the time they are done, the train is about to leave. Although Patrick manages to get onto the train, the doors close before Duchevsk can get on. Duchevsk's son, Stephan is therefore left on board by himself.

Patrick attempts to befriend the boy, who has been told to get off at the next station, and eventually comes to his rescue at the station, unfortunately missing his train again. The train Stephan's father has boarded does not stop at the station, and a mobile number is held up, with the last two digits obscured. Attempts at calling the number prove fruitless. The next train comes and they board. However, Patrick has left his wallet, passport and ticket on the telephone box and they are thrown off the train.

Attempts at begging and miming prove successful, and Patrick buys the pair a bus ticket to Cannes. Patrick managed to lose his, though, and attempts to hitchhike his way there. He soon falls asleep, exhausted from walking and wakes up on what appears to be a quaint French village but is actually a film set for a video game advert. Patrick ends up as an extra in the advert, directed by Steve Speil, but inadvertently ends up destroying the set in an explosion when he charges his camera.

Patrick then tries to hitchhike again and a lime-green Mini identical to his picks him up, driven by Emma, who offers him a lift to Cannes. She is an aspiring actress on her way to the 59th Cannes Film Festival where the film that Speil directed is going to be presented with her scene. When they stop at a service station, Patrick finds Stephan dancing in a cafe with a band and they head on.

Emma assumes Stephan is Patrick's son, while Stephan thinks Emma is Patick's girlfriend. On the road, Patrick and Stephan use Emma's phone to call his father again, but to no avail, and the trio end up driving through the night, arriving in Cannes the next morning.

At a gas station, Emma's sees Patrick's photo on TV as a suspect of kidnapping Stephan and Emma as Patrick's accomplice. However, since she does not want to miss the film in Cannes in just one hour, she does not want to go to the police now to clear the misunderstandings. Therefore, they have to work out a way to get into Cannes without being identified. Stephan dresses up as a girl while Patrick dresses up as Stephan's grandmother. The ploy works and Emma arrives on time.

After sneaking into the premiere, many of the viewers find Spiel's film terribly boring and Patrick is disappointed to see that Emma's role has been cut from the film. He plugs his video camera into the projector, projecting his video diary. The bizarre tale it tells fits director Steve Speil's narration well, and the director, Emma and Patrick all receive standing ovations and Stephan is finally reunited with his father.

After the screening, Patrick leaves the building by the back door, and onto the beach, encountering many of the characters from the film. The film then ends with Patrick and all the other characters of the film miming a large French musical finale, with arms raised in the air. Just before the credits Patrick writes "fin" in the sand with his foot.