Don't watch this film after having seen "Wag the Dog"

Rating: 2/10 (29 August 2000)

In hope of seeing a new Braveheart I went to the cinema with my brother, a devoted Hollywood-addict. We both ended up laughing aloud all through the film, however both quite confused. In fact, this film is so pathetic (in every sense of the word), pretentious and ridiculously patriotic I can't see how it could appeal to anyone living outside American borders.
The dialogue and speeches of patriotism were so predictable, it felt as if my expectations on the next line were actually interacting with the actors. Despite great actors, wonderful photography and lavish costumes this picture ends up being nothing but another propaganda film from Hollywood, or is it Capitol Hill?
When Mel Gibson runs towards the line, grabbing an American flag on the way from a retreating soldier and bawling "Hold the line! Hold the line!" I don't know which association is the least flattering; the cheesiness of Toto or the pompous campaign song from "Wag the dog", which might very well have accompanied this scene. Except the slight detail that in "Wag the dog", it's irony. And the Patriot is just a sad, great Hollywood-project which will make yet another few thousands of people indoctrinated with American, nuance-lacking self-righteousness.