The Patriot (2000) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson, Jason Isaacs, Chris Cooper and Tom Wilkinson. Music by John Williams. Screenplay by Robert Rodat. Directed by Roland Emmerich.
"The Patriot" is a rousing, bloody, violent adventure that despite its drawbacks, will more than likely be a huge crowd pleaser.
And I have to admit that regardless of the movie's obvious flaws, I remained enthralled and entertained for nearly its entire 164 minutes.
This, of course, is mainly due to the charismatic presence of Mel Gibson as fictional Revolutionary War hero Benjamin Martin, a South Carolina landowner loosely based on Frances Marion, the legendary `Swamp Fox.'
"The Patriot" feels like a movie created by people who study demographics. There's blood and guts for the guys; a love story, featuring two attractive young people, for the women; a paean to brotherhood for the liberals; and a good dose of God, country and flag-waving for the conservatives.
In other words, "The Patriot" offers something for everyone.
The movie earns its R rating. The battle scenes are brutal with men losing limbs as well as lives. Screenwriter Robert Rodat ("Saving Private Ryan") captures the futility of 18th-century warfare in which armies would line up across from each other on the field and use the opposing force for target practice until one army gave up and fled.
Gibson's Martin, realizing how ineffectual such tactics are, adopts guerrilla warfare and hit-and-run forays to achieve his successes.
At the outset Martin opposes fighting. A heroic veteran of the French and Indian Wars, he is tired of bloodshed.
However, when an arrogant and thoroughly despicable British dragoon, Col. William Tavington (Jason Isascs) cold-bloodedly kills Martin's 15-year-old son, Martin is instantly transformed into a lethal foe, who harasses the British at every turn.
Martin's transformation comes to quickly, too easily. And that is one of the movie's flaws.
Another is Isaacs' performance as Tavington. He has no redeeming qualities. He is absolutely evil, casually killing men, women and children without hesitation.
Also fighting the war is hunky Heath Ledger ("Ten Things I Hate About You") as Gabriel, Martin's eldest son, who fights alongside his father. This young actor is the main reason young women will flock to "The Patriot." Like Gibson, he is a ruggedly handsome individual.
Another problem with the film is its political correctness. There is just too much of it. A young woman speechifies in church about the necessity of men going to fight for their beliefs.
Then there's the minor subplot of the redneck member of Martin's army who dislikes then comes to respect the black slave who also is a member of the group.
Director Roland Emmerich keeps the proceedings in motion. There is very little dead space. He is ably abetted by Caleb Deschanel's expert and portrait-like cinematography.
But this is Gibson's movie, an old-fashioned star turn. He makes some of Rodat's overripe dialogue palatable. He has a vulnerability about him, a sense of regret for what he has to do and loss for the personal cost the war is extracting from him.
John Williams offers another of his red, white and blue symphonic concoctions. It blends perfectly with the action on the screen.
Overall, "The Patriot" will hold your attention. I have to admit that it more than compensates for its weaknesses. A larger-than-life hero, a hissable villain, a moving love story. Who could ask for anything more?
"The Patriot" may be history as redefined by Hollywood, but it still manages to convey the tenacity and will of those who, knowing they were vastly outnumbered, continued with dogged determination to fight for their dream.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net Bloom's reviews can be found on the Internet Movie Datatbase at: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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