Worth 165 minutes of your time

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2003)

Don't believe anyone who says this isn't a good movie. You must see it for yourself. I may sound like I'm going off on a tangent, but hear my story:
I can remember that when this movie was in the theaters, I kind of wanted to see it, but then changed my mind. My best friend invited me over her house to watch a movie and my choices were Gladiator and The Patriot. I told her I had no desire to see the Patriot so we watched Gladiator(very good movie). Afterwards she kept telling me to watch the Patriot because it was so good and there was this really hot actor Heath Ledger in it(who I didn't know at the time). I'm so glad I finally saw it. I cried the first time(but I'm not going to tell you what part of the movie) and i guarantee; if you tend to cry in movies, you'll definitely cry for this one. But don't worry, when you consider that this IS A WAR MOVIE, it's not too sad. And as someone has said in a previous comment, it is a VERY GORY movie. It's definitely more gory than Gladiator. But that just adds to the realism. But why would you expect anything less from such a movie? this is how war really is. I give this movie a ~9/10~
Flaws in the movie: I liked this movie so much I saw it several times in a short period. I found a few unlikely things. Here's the big one to me: Benjamin Martin is a SOUTHERNER living in SOUTH CAROLINA in the 1770s. What do you think the odds are that he would have free black people working on his farm? Think about it. It would be understandable if he lived in a northern state, or even Maryland, but not South Carolina. That state wanted to leave the union in the 1800s because they wanted slavery. Another one which kind of goes hand in hand is that Gabriel talks about a free world after the war where blacks and whites are equal. well, it's 2003 and unfortunately there still isn't equilibrium. So what are the odds a southerner would dream of this in 1776? Even many northerners didn't believe that. they wanted African Americans free, but not equal. There are some other things which are unlikely but they are also spoilers and i hate telling spoilers.
So all in all a great movie which everyone may see **sensitive moviegoers, don't forget your tissues and barf bag**