2000, 2 hrs 40 min., Rated R for strong war violence.�Dir: Roland Emmerich. Cast: Mel Gibson (Benjamin Martin), Heath Ledger (Gabriel Edward Martin), Joely Richardson (Charlotte), Jason Isaacs (Tavington), Chris Cooper (Col. Harry Burwell), Tch�ky Karyo (Jean Villeneuve), Lisa Brenner (Anne), Rene Auberjonois (Reverend Oliver), Tom Wilkinson (General Cornwallis).
One of the best things about films based on historical events is that it encourages people to research the past and learn more about the truths behind the movie. I love to do this, and I�m a history buff, so I can only imagine what someone might learn that does not normally read anything history-related.
After seeing The Patriot at the start of my weekend, the next morning I lounged in my recliner and watched the six-hour PBS series �Liberty!� regarding the American Revolution. Even though I�ve seen it three times, I still learn more upon every viewing. There aren�t enough films made regarding the war, which is a surprise seeing as how much emotion, heroism drama comes natural to the subject
Going in, critics had been down on The Patriot for its supposed rah-rah huzzah story, which would have been fine with me because I enjoy a feel-good patriotic film. The Patriot, though is anything but pure �America and Americans are the best thing to happen to the world� as director Roland Emmerich presents us with more of a Shakespearean tragedy that has somewhat of a positive outcome (meaning not everyone dies).
The story begins and takes place mostly in South Carolina, beginning in the year 1776 as Americans clamor for liberty. It is a new America, a nation born of ideology that dares claim that all men (except women and slaves, of course) are created equal.
Our hero, Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), is a widowed father trying his best to raise seven cute-as-a-button children as best he can on their family farm. A member of the South Carolina Assembly, he gained fame over a decade earlier as a hero in the French and Indian War in a battle so heinous he doesn�t even talk about it. The film lets us know this from the opening narration: �I have long feared that my sins would revisit me�and the cost is more than I can bare.�
Like Shenandoah starring Jimmy Stewart, the battle comes to Gibson�s front door and causes him to enter a war he did not want to. And like Unforgiven, Gibson is forced to show how good a killer he is, despite all efforts to raise a family, earn an honest living and prevent recalling those previous acts of bloodshed.
However, when son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) joins the Continental Army and his captured by the English, Gibson, like Eastwood in Unforgiven, inflicts some serious revenge on the British. Quickly earning a legend as The Ghost he brutally and easily dispatches of 20 British soldiers (with a little help from two of his sons shooting from behind), reminding me of Daniel Day-Lewis in Last of the Mohicans.
Gibson is incredible in his fury, but as war is hell, such vengeance comes with a cost to both sides. The film is very bloody, so beware those who grimace at the sight of blood and broken body parts.
If there is one item of historical warfare that Emmerich wants you to take away from The Patriot is that guerrilla warfare saved the colonials. As Gen. Cornwallis notes, �muzzle to muzzle with Redcoats in an open field (is) madness.� But when the Americans realize that the British are as good at defending themselves from guerrilla warfare as the French were at building trenches to stop Germans from attacking in World War II, the tide of the war turns and a guaranteed victory diminishes for the English.
Heath Ledger's such a handsome gent I want to hate him, but the guy can act. Of course, I may have been biased in liking him in that his name in the movie is Gabriel Edward Martin, and my four-month old nephew is named Gabriel Edwards. I was very impressed with Ledger�s talents, having been given a clue of what was to come in last year�s teen flick Ten Things I Hate About You.
His love interest in the film, Anne (Lisa Brenner), is an angel with bright blue eyes and a smile that could any man would defend with his life.
English Col. William Tavington (Jason Isaacs) is almost gleefully pure evil; maybe a little over the top at times, but we�re supposed to hate him and we do. . For the British who think the film is all about "good Americans, bad English" you're only a little off base. Sure, there were plenty of parts slamming the Brits, but we were trying to get our freedom from you guys so what do you expect?
Before I get into the relationship between Joely Richardson and Gibson, I just want to let it be known that she looks great in The Patriot. I love period pictures pre-1900 when women wore those beautiful dresses (I know, they were probably very uncomfortable) that made any woman look demure and incredibly appealing.
However, Richardson�s character, Charlotte, is the sister of Gibson�s deceased wife. Apparently the filmmakers believe that Gibson has to have a love interest in every movie, so they have Richardson and Gibson feel chemistry between them which is downright creepy and wrong; too close to incest for me.
Early on the filmmakers tried to clue us in on this fact, and thus focused too much on Richardson�s worried looks at him instead of showing the faces of Gibson�s kids as he rides off. I don�t think Gibson needed romance and Emmerich should�ve left out this subplot. Besides this, however, Richardson would not have had much to do, which would have been a waste. So, I take the good with the bad.
There are an abundance of clich�s in The Patriot, as with any big budget summer blockbuster following a formula, but as long as you don�t expect Braveheart one will accept them -- at least grudgingly for those of us film lovers who know when we're being manipulated.
One of these, though, is silly. The filmmakers chickened out, so instead of Gibson owning the blacks on his farm we�re told that they are free and paid, not slaves. Even worse, the filmmakers feel obliged to have a token black man (Jay Arlen Jones) among Gibson�s ragtag militia, along with the expected dialogue of other whites not respecting him before the ex-slave eventually earns it (�I�m proud to fight with you,� the white bigot tells him).
John William�s score is familiar with recent works, as much of his work over the last decade tends to sound the same with rhythms and beats crossing over among films. That�s not to say his work for The Patriot isn�t rousing and emotional, its just not too original.
So, I give it thumbs up, four stars out of five, with one star subtracted because there are a couple of slow moments that may not have been necessary. This caused my rear end to get sore from being in the chair for over three hours, meaning the film seemed to last as long as the siege of Yorktown. However, as with any good film that is lengthy, I got over my soreness and got a lot out of a film that has every element necessary for an epic story.
The verdict: 
-- Not revolutionary filmmaking, but worth the price of admission, taxes (with representation) included.