The Patriot (film)
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| Director(s) | Roland Emmerich |
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| Distributor | Sony Pictures |
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| Aimed directly at a mainstream audience, The Patriot qualifies as respectable entertainment, but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla, director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel), and Robert Rodat’s screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier… | |
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Reviews
Amazon.com
Aimed directly at a mainstream audience, The Patriot qualifies as respectable entertainment, but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of Stargate, Independence Day, and Godzilla, director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel), and Robert Rodat’s screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier script for Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately, Emmerich embraces clichés and hackneyed melodrama that a more gifted director would have avoided. Instead of attempting a truly great film about the most pivotal years of American history, Emmerich settles for a standard revenge plot with the Revolutionary War as an incidental backdrop.
On those terms, the film is engrossing and sufficiently intelligent, especially when militia leader Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) cagily negotiates with British General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) in one of the most rewarding scenes. For the most part, the story concerns Martin’s anguished quest for revenge against ruthless redcoat Colonel Tavington (played with snide relish by Jason Isaacs), and the rise to manhood of Martin’s eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), whose battlefield honor exceeds even that of his brutally volatile father. At its best, The Patriot conveys the horror of war among innocent civilians, and the epic battle scenes, while by no means masterful, are graphically intense and impressive. And although Ledger’s love interest (Lisa Brenner) is too bland to register much emotion, the focus on family (which frequently relegates the war to background history) provides a suitable vehicle for Gibson, who matches his achievement in Braveheart with an effectively brooding performance. —Jeff Shannon
Barnes and Noble
Reluctant hero Mel Gibson leads a ragtag militia against the might of the British army in this stirring, lavishly mounted historical epic set during the Revolutionary War. He’s perfectly cast as Benjamin Martin, a colonial farmer, widowed father, and veteran of the French and Indian War who stubbornly resists joining the Continental Army. Martin eventually enters the conflict to save his eldest son, Gabriel—played by charismatic young Heath Ledger (10 Things I Hate About You), a rebel courier captured by British troops. The loose-knit band of guerrillas he organizes bedevils the redcoat, and sets up the traditional bad guy vs. mad guy (Mel) climax. Director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) re-creates the Revolution with scrupulous fidelity, vividly capturing the carnage and confusion of pitched battles that often took place in the backyards of colonial settlers. His historically accurate rebels are gentlemen farmers, vagabonds, and brigands, united by their disdain for the arrogant English king and determined to gain their freedom at any cost. Thematically similar to Gibson’s Oscar-winning film Braveheart, The Patriot provides its popular leading man with a rousing vehicle for his considerable talents. The Special Edition DVD includes deleted scenes, storyboards, audio commentary, photo galleries, cast and crew bios, a featurette, and the theatrical trailer. Ed Hulse
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The Patriot: Original Motion Picture Score
Though Hollywood has long had a love affair with historical epics, it has sorely shortchanged America’s own most compelling chapter, the War of Independence. And if this tale of a retiring Colonial hero whose family gets drawn into the war against the British has no shortage of production ironies—being helmed by a German director and starring Australian-raised Mel Gibson—its score is a solid, stirring effort by American John Williams. Largely eschewing typical bombastic epic fodder for a mostly understated score rich in his distinctive writing for brass and…
