Rachel Dratch is best known for her time on Saturday Night Live, where she played a slew of hilarious characters with ridiculous quirks in classic Dratch-fashion, including Debbie Downer and Jimmy Fallon’s Boston girlfriend. In her new film I Love My Dad, however, she’s taking a slight departure from her usual comedic absurdity, as the dark-comedy deals with issues like suicidal ideation and familial trauma. Oh, and internet catfishing as well, which it turns out, Dratch is somewhat familiar with.
The central conflict in I Love My Dad involves Patton Oswalt’s character catfishing his own son until things spiral out of control, and as Rachel Dratch told us while doing press for the film, the story reminded her of an experience she had in her own life online:
Someone did pretend to be me on Twitter for a while, that’s why I’m The Real Dratch, because they were making really, really bad jokes. That’s the most I’ve ever been deceived on Twitter, deceived on the internet. But yeah, nothing as extreme… it was a lot of potty humor.
So in case you were wondering if The Real Dratch was an ego thing, rest assured that she’s literally just informing her audience that she is, well… the real Rachel Dratch. It makes sense that she didn’t want her image tainted with soulless potty humor, as the comedic actor is far more clever than toilet jokes. She even famously made Lindsay Lohan break live on air during a Debbie Downer sketch, and has intimidated huge stars like Bill Hader given her legendary status in the improv world.
As previously mentioned, I Love My Dad sees Patton Oswalt as a catfishing father who creates an online persona to try and stay in his son's life following a suicide attempt. It’s a slightly dark departure for the actor, who is part of one of the biggest film franchises of all time as a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The man also made headlines for breaking the news that Chloé Zhao would be returning for an Eternals 2, and fans are excited to see what Marvel Studios does with his character Pip The Troll.
I Love My Dad is in select theaters right now! Given its indie status and limited release, we’re not expecting it to compete at the box office with the likes of Top Gun: Maverick, but the film has a lot of heart and deals with some heavy themes featuring a talented cast. If it’s playing at a theater near you, why not go show your support for solid low-budget flicks? As for the rest of what’s coming to the big screen this year, be sure to check out our 2022 movie release schedule.
