Entertaining War Movie

Rating: 7/10 (4 February 2005)

The Patriot is set during the war of Independence and is about a man seeking revenge for his son, who was killed by a sadistic British soldier.
Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) is a peaceful farmer raising seven kids alone, as his wife has died. His eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger) immediately signs up to go to war, however, he is later captured by Colonal William Tavington (Jason Isaacs), a British soldier notorious for his brutal tactics and sentenced to hang. When Benjamin's second eldest son, Thomas (Gregory Smith) goes to help his brother, he is shot down and killed by Tavington in cold blood.Taking his younger children to live with their aunt (Joely Richardson), Benjamin sets out to avenge his sons death.
The Patriot is a very entertaining movie and unlike most war movies, doesn't last for about four hours. It runs just over two hours. Mel Gibson as always, is very watchable as he is blessed with a lot of screen presence and electricity on screen. Jason Isaacs captures Tavington's cold heart perfectly and is enjoyable to watch. However, the scene stealer is the young actress who plays Benjamin's youngest daughter Susan, Skye McCole Bartusiak. Just eight years old at the time of filming, she has delivered a performance that could put to shame some of the greats. The depth and emotion she brings to her character is unbelievable and their is one scene involving her that will have you crying your eyes out.
If you're an American, you will particularly enjoy it as it is very patriotic (as the title may suggest), but even so, it is a very enjoyable movie.