The Patriot Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)July 12th, 2000
THE PATRIOT (2000) / ** 1/2
Directed by Roland Emmerich. Screenplay by Robert Rodat. Starring Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Jason Isaacs. Running time: 164 minutes. Rated AA for blood letting and violent scenes by the MFCB. Reviewed on July 4th, 2000.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
I find it amusing that one of the previews before "The Patriot" was for "The Hollow Man". That title so accurately sums up this picture: hollow. It's been a long time since a movie tried so hard to involve me emotionally, and fail so miserably. Don't get me wrong -- "The Patriot" looks great, and is broadly entertaining. But much of its almost three-hour running time is wasted on flimsy characters and tedious retreads masquerading as emotional high points. For once, I wish the filmmakers had just been trying to make a summer action pic.
Comparisons with star Mel Gibson's last historical epic, 1995's "Braveheart", are perhaps inevitable. Both movies feature Gibson as the leader of a band of insurgents against oppressive British rule. There he was trying to free Scotland, here it is the American colonies during the Revolutionary War. The death of Gibson's wife and ultra-realistic battle scenes figure prominently in both pictures. But "Braveheart" stirred a raw, genuine response from me. "The Patriot" clearly strives for the same sort of impact, but never achieves it. Is it just that I've become more cynical in the five years between the two films? Perhaps. But I think it's more than that.
"Braveheart", you see, featured real characters. Gibson's William Wallace was a compelling hero, and his fate left me both shattered and uplifted. Benjamin Martin in "The Patriot" is just Gibson on autopilot. He's not poorly-acted, but he's all window dressing with nothing underneath. I believed in William Wallace; I can't say the same for Benjamin Martin. The same criticism can be levied at Heath Ledger, who plays Ben's eldest son Christian. Ledger spends the whole movie mumbling listlessly, like he didn't realise rehearsal was over.
For a movie about family to work, we must be convinced of the bonds between them, no matter how strained, but "The Patriot" never forges those bonds. Indeed, so tepid is the interaction amongst the castmembers that it feels almost as if they each filmed their scenes individually, so that they could be composited electronically in post-production. Most unfortunate is the lack of chemistry between the two stars -- Gibson and Ledger feel more like passing acquaintances than father and son.
There is a good story underlying "The Patriot", if only it were in service to a better film. Benjamin is a veteran of the French-Indian War, but now preaches dialogue instead of combat. Against his father's wishes, Christian runs off to join the continental army. When the War of Independence comes as close as the Martins' South Carolina fields, Ben elects to care for the wounded on both sides, which happens to include Christian. But the brutal British Colonel Tavington (Jason Isaacs) has the Martin homestead burned anyway, and Christian is arrested for carrying colonial dispatches. When another of the Martin sons intervenes, Tavington shoots him dead.
This spurs Benjamin into action. Accompanied by two more sons, he ambushes and slaughters the British contingent bringing Christian back to their camp. That night, one son tells him he's glad he killed British soldiers. Here was a perfect opportunity to examine the effects of war on the young. But no, the movie passes it by, instead confining itself to safe territory well-trod by other movies. Judging from "The Patriot", pretty much the only negative ramifications of war are that men have to leave home for long spells, and sometimes they never come back. Well, duh.
Things go downhill from there. There are obligatory romances, one each for Christian and Benjamin. Christian's at least benefits from involving a somewhat charismatic paramour, Anne (Lisa Brenner). Benjamin, however, is shoehorned into an unconvincing attraction to his dead wife's sister (Joely Richardson). There is no spark between them, and the whole thing happens only because the movie demands it. Cliche after cliche is paraded across the screen: The bad guy who's not quite dead yet. The token black soldier. When a recalcitrant Benjamin is assigned to recruit civilians for a militia, the locals demur, until Anne gives a stirring speech. A pause and then... you guessed it, one by one all the naysayers stand in support of Ben.
The villains of "The Patriot" fare no better than the heroes. Isaacs' Tavington has no motivation, and no characterisation beyond "he's mean". Tavington was a real person, and his wicked depiction here has drawn the wrath of the city of Liverpool, which considers him a hero. Liverpudlians needn't worry: I doubt anyone could believe this portrayal is accurate, because no real person is so utterly devoid of personality. Tavington's superior is General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson), who is at least useful for comic relief -- although much of the humor here is so banal, it's barely worth a groan. When Benjamin's militia blows up a British supply ship during a party at Cornwallis' estate, one dim-witted aristocrat ecstatically exclaims, "Fireworks!"
It is when "The Patriot" concentrates on the war that it finally kicks into high gear. Director Roland Emmerich does the movie no favours by filming many of the battle scenes with a tedious, mechanical style (close up of American soldier, wide shot, close up of British soldier, wide shot, repeat), but the realism and intensity of the combat overcomes this, especially in the exciting final clash. Every now and then, Robert Rodat's script shows a spark of creativity, or at least reuses old ideas in entertaining ways -- look at what becomes of Cornwallis' dogs, for example. And the beautiful period detail is a major attraction, with the whole movie looking as though it was lifted from a Leutze painting.
But "The Patriot" is ultimately a disappointment -- although, given that Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin masterminded "Independence Day" and the 1998 "Godzilla", two films with the most grotesque budget-to-intelligence ratios in recent history, maybe that's actually not such a bad thing. This is "Braveheart" lite: great fighting sequences trapped in a shallow narrative.
And why, if the movie spans five years, do the Martin children never age a day?
Copyright © 2000 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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