Good dramatization... bad message...

Rating: Null/10 (3 July 2000)

Similar to Titanic, as a historical dramatization, The Patriot was good (although, I've heard, not necessarily accurate). I've always said Titanic would be a GREAT movie if all the scenes involving Jack and Rose were removed and they just told the story of the ship and its passengers and crew. I feel the same way about The Patriot. I loved the scenes that told the story of the war. The battle scenes with the long rows of troops facing each other and the ambush scenes in cotton fields were great. However, I found the personal life of Ben Martin only marginally interesting and I thought that the film's revenge theme was quite a turn-off.
The Patriot also had something deeper that I didn't like. Although Ben Martin's nemesis, Tavington, was a very strong screen presence, he was the epitome of the movie-bad-guy stereotype and a perfect example of this movie's attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator. The average American's patriotism is unfortunately filled with ethnocentric arrogance rather than respectful pride and I'm afraid that this movie was aimed to appeal to that arrogance. It's uncomfortable for me to think that many people may have left the movie theater feeling like, "America rocks! The American way is, not only the best way, but also the only way!"
The film did try to subtly leave some signs that maybe America doesn't learn from its mistakes very well, but I think that they were too subtle for some people. Overall, I felt that there were too many honorable Americans, too many dastardly Brits, and too much Stars'n'Stripes waiving for this movie to be taken seriously.