Graphic action film that carries deep emotional weight

Rating: 10/10 (22 June 2000)

It's a fine line, in film, between a scene with emotional truth and a scene set up to manipulate your emotions. Sometimes the camera holds a little too long on a crying man's expression of grief or the musical score is a bit heavy handed.
One wouldn't suppose that the director of Independence Day, Roland Emmerich, could handle the subtle balance between a serious drama and a story with graphic sweeping battle scenes. He does. The Patriot keeps you guessing. Often as not, the story will seem to lead in an obvious direction and then it veers off and does the unexpected.
This is grand Hollywood film making that doesn't shy away with showing the carnage of battle, in both large clashes in open fields and small skirmishes, but it also touches on men and their families and a central conflict between a good man and an evil man. Much of the film's emotional weight is carried by Mel Gibson. There are a couple of scenes that would make even a hard boiled cynic weep.
I must admit that I was concerned by the prerelease trailer showing Mel carrying a flag into battle. It seemed an easy way to manipulate the heartstrings of any good American. His use of the flag, in the film, is actually far more personal and dynamic than one would expect.
This is an action movie that isn't predictable and a drama that will please the serious filmgoer.