great war film; only a good biography

Rating: 8/10 (12 March 2002)

Although the war scenes were fantastic, the movie as a whole went on a little too long. Patton has an interesting back story that was only hinted at in a vague, uninformed way. I would have found the story more compelling had we understood more about where he came from. I read a biography of his, or perhaps an autobiography (sorry, don't remember which) and found the portions about his wife and kids to be very interesting. That information would help to better flesh out that he was a continuous person. I almost got the sense from the movie that they suggest he is a wondrous monster on the battlefield and some sort of restricted housewife at home. He wasn't merely captivated by war and killing, but more so by strategy and intelligent thought. He played games which required a great deal of thought with his children. He read books to them and forced them to be original. If any of this back story of Patton the man were included, the film would have been stronger. As it is, it is only a film about Patton the general. This film however, is still strong on its own. I'm only suggesting some room for improvement. I would have ran the film the same length but exchanged some of the battle for back story and depth of character. 8/10 or somewhere in that vicinity.