Insulting

Rating: Null/10 (8 July 2000)

The Patriot: What a bomb, waste, debacle whatever you want to call it. Of course all "patriots" were pacifist traumatized into becoming freedom fighters, lived in huge homes, with large farms, were heroes of major battles, had two sons brutally killed by British war mongering louts, had temporarily autistic daughters ultimately reconciled with him through the perils of of war, fell in love with their beautiful sister-in-law, and yes of course,met their arch enemy on the battlefield to extract the ultimate revenge. What a crock! After making a great movie about a Scottish Patriot, you think Mel could have had the foresight to perceive this for the bomb and distortion it is. What a waste of an opportunity to tell the story of the true "Patriots" of the War for Independence, the ordinary folk, the likes of whom we in passing saw in this movie, standing in the lines taking the musket balls, leaving their families behind to fend for themselves(and not in cozy southern mansions),struggling with starvation, weather, and their own doubts about their cause. the ordinary folk who fought for the cause of liberty to protect an ideal, not the landed gentry portrayed by Mel who, while fighting for "freedom", also had their own self interest at heart; after all, you don't think Mel wanted to be taxed any more than he was already on all that wealth or, heaven forbide lose it to some Tory. A movie about the ordinary folk who gave their all for an ideal would have been so much better. As portrayed, this movie is an insult to our forefathers and to our intelligence. Skip it a watch the history channel if your a true patriot.