PATCH ADAMS (1998) A Review by Amateur Film Critic Sharon Connolly
Cast: Robin Williams, Monica Potter, Bob Gunton, Daniel London, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Josef Sommer and Peter Coyote Directed by Tom Shadyac Written by Steve Oedekerk Released by Universal Pictures
This film is based on real-life doctor Patch Adams of Virginia who tried to reinvent the medical practice through humor and a free clinic. Patch has been described as an iconoclast, a pattern-breaker and professional clown, and who could play Patch any better than Robin Williams, who's proven to the world over and over again that he's a comedic genius! Williams also has that unique ability to make you laugh and cry almost within the same scene.
With a Christmas premiere, the timing is perfect because it's a "feel-good" film for the holidays. Now I ask you - what's wrong with that? Its clever script brings rich humor poking fun at the medical establishment and the myth of doctors as godlike creatures. And that's something nearly every one of us can relate to. Described as a drama/comedy, the script focuses on five years of the doctor's life. As an amateur film critic, I have to declare "Patch Adams" a definite winner DESPITE the influx of complaints from national critics who have referred to it as syrupy, beyond belief and toying with the emotions with a heavy hand, even going so far as to say that the soundtrack was also manipulative. Well, name one that isn't. At the sneak preview I attended, the audience responded with a round of applause, highly unusual. I think moviegoers have had their share this year of action and special-effects films, which demand total suspension of disbelief for a solid two hours! Therefore, "Patch Adams" has a refreshing appeal and can be embraced as a story of joy and hope in the face of illness and death, which we must all eventually succumb to.
Bob Gunton plays his villainous role with fervor as Dean Walcott (remember him as the prison warden in "Shawshank Redemption"?) while Monica Potter delightfully plays Patch's love interest despite her Julia Roberts' look-alike image. Kudos also goes to Daniel London as Patch's geeky pal as well as to Philip Seymour Hoffman as the earnest but pompous and humorless roommate. (A bit like some of these film critics, eh?) And, yes, the cantankerous, dying patient in Room 305 is indeed Peter Coyote, whose awesome voice can still be easily recognized.
As a final note, this film has received two Golden Globe nominations, one for Best Picture in the musical/comedy category and one for Williams as Best Actor. Guess there must be plenty of other folks out there who agree with me.
-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==---------- http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews