Not your average review

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2000)

The Patriot is worth seeing for several reasons. It has great acting, I was thrilled to see Heath Ledger given a bigger role, and allowed the chance to prove that he could carry it off (which he did with style and ease). Of course Mel Gibson was fantastic (I would be surprised to get less from him), but my main point of writing is to tell you what no one else here has (yet). This movie is not a "feel good" film. I didn't walk out of the theater thinking how entertained I was, or how happy I was to be alive. I walked out wondering if it would be better if we were all dead. Those people that found Braveheart to be entertaining will find this to be so as well. However, I am getting slightly tired of writers (directors?) who think that the "bad guy" has to be more than bad... You know, after he murders an innocent child, I think everyone was sufficiently ready and happy to see him die, must he get worse? As if the murder of one child isn't enough for us, the writer feels if the "bad guy" doesn't just KEEP doing horrendous acts, we might not feel he needs to die. Must he top every horrible act with one more gruesome and depressing to the audience? Every time the movie gave me hope that some semblance of happiness or justice might come out of the show, it tore it away in the most cruel manner. Every time I started to smile at the scenes of loyalty and love, I was stunned and shocked back into my state of horror, and despair for those in the movie. When it was over, unlike the teenage boys sitting in front of me talking excitedly about how much blood there was, I felt numb. The acting was superb, the sets and costumes lovely and the filmography, fantastic. The story left me numb by the end and today, when I think of it, I wish I hadn't seen it. A lot of reviewers (professional and otherwise) like movies full of despair and without hope when they are done well. For me, I see enough of that despair, death and misery in real life, that I want at least a glimmer of hope when I spend my hard earned money to be "entertained". So If you want great acting, sets, and action, and you don't care about being depressed, see this movie, it truly delivers the goods. If you DON'T want to spend your money to leave the theater with a feeling of despair, I wouldn't go.