A bloated, impersonal biopic lacking the stimulating information necessary to justify its monotonous length

Rating: 5/10 (17 January 2012)

The cast of Franklin J. Schaffner's Oscar-sweeper "Patton" consists of hundreds, if not thousands of people, and unquestionably required the acute attention spans of many others, who stood out of sight when the cameras were rolling. But all of their collective efforts seem, to me at least, to amount to next to nothing as the heart, soul, and mindset of this movie - and in fact, the only person who seems to occupy any real space in it - is George C. Scott playing the controversial World War II general. It's one of Mr. Scott's two or three very best performances, and won him an Academy Award, and yet in a bloated film filled with mostly hot air as opposed to passion and information, even Mr. Scott's joyously powerful performance doesn't seem to add up to much.
"Patton" clocks in at just under three hours in length, and yet even with so much open space to throw in historical facts, information, and theories about General Patton's infamous career and his actions during the Second World War, the movie does not provide anything that I could not have learned by picking up a book at the local library. As a result, it does not surmount enough interesting stuff to justify its length and monotonous tone. It goes on and on, but really does not have much to say.
The best thing in the movie is, again, George C. Scott's magnificent performance. What made Mr. Scott one of the best cinema actors was not only his talent, but the way he enthusiastically embraced every role given to him. As a result, the audience is able to share the fun and excitement that goes into giving a great performance. That is the case here, as well. There are other people in the movie. One of them is Karl Malden, but they might as well just be faces painted on a big mural in the background, for none of them are fleshed out, memorable, or for that matter, very well-portrayed. With the exceptions of Mr. Malden and some of the German actors, a lot of the acting is hammy and wooden. In one of the movie's key moments, Mr. Scott loses his temper with a soldier crying after a heated battle, and whips him with his cap. The performance by the actor playing the soldier is so methodical and so artificial that it really threatens to bring the scene to a screeching halt. Having an amazingly animated performance with a plethora of really stone-faced ones sort of throws the movie off balance.
"Patton" is a beautifully-photographed movie, and the battle scenes, sparse as they are, are appropriately riveting. However, in the end, this bloated wanderer of a motion picture is just too self-righteous for its own good. The way it presents General George Patton is like a elementary student writing a report about a historical figure who they honestly could not have cared less about. Passionless and stiff, "Patton" left me feeling completely disinterested about halfway through and clear to the end, wondering what else there was about this figure that was worth all of the hullabaloo. I had to pick up a history book to find out.