Enjoyable, but easily the worst of Gibson's war epics.

Rating: Null/10 (6 March 2003)

Rating: ** 1/2 out of ****
Everything about The Patriot screams epic: the cinematography, the battle scenes, the score, the costumes, the sets, everything that is except for the script, which relies so much on overused clichés that some scenes are even a little painful to watch. Did we really need the subplot involving the little girl who won't talk to her father? Or the relationship between the racist and the slave and its contrived, "Hollywood" resolution? The basic story sounds just fine, a father who must join the Revolutionary War to protect his son, but director Roland Emmerich and writer Robert Rodat felt the need to tackle as many "issues" as possible to make this a true epic saga.
It's too bad the screenplay lets the movie down because The Patriot is noteworthy in many respects. Mel Gibson delivers another terrific performance, quite effortlessly, too. This type of character, the revenge-driven family man, is dangerously becoming a stereotype for Gibson (the family man stuff is still in both We Were Soldiers and Signs, sans the revenge). Jason Isaacs proves to be his equal as the delightfully nasty Colonel Tavington, a rather cartoonish role but played with zeal and fervor by the talented and underrated Isaacs. Heath Ledger makes his breakout performance here, but I fail to see what the hype was all about; he's flat and dull, though he's shown marked improvement recently in The Four Feathers.
The Patriot features two memorable action sequences, the first is a hair-raising, heart-pounding forest ambush that had me thinking the film would be daring to enter realms Hollywood usually strayed from. Silly me, the rest of the movie was pure Hollywood and seemed to forget all about the at best ambiguous behavior of Gibson's character during the forest attack. The final bloody battle sequence is appropriately rousing, thanks to the well-choreographed mayhem and John Williams' stirring score, but concludes on a somewhat pathetic note, as a certain character suddenly appears to grow eyes on the back of his head (you'll know what I mean when you see it). These first-rate action scenes deserve to support a better, more even film.
Before The Patriot, there was the immensely superior Braveheart, a gripping epic that delivered genuine passion, heart, and rousing battle scenes that made the three hour running time fly by. After The Patriot came We Were Soldiers, a riveting look at modern warfare, and its combat scenes were among the best of its kind. So The Patriot qualifies as a bridge between two superior motion pictures. Since it's a crowdpleaser, I have no doubt many crowds will be pleased. But realize that clichés can never be an apt substitute for real drama.