the long and illustrious career of robin williams , which has included both forgettable turns like mrs .
doubtfire and flubber , was punctuated with the actor 's first academy award in 1998 for his role in good will hunting .
it was his first truly dramatic role since 1989 's dead poets society , and critical remarks were unanimously positive .
his next role , that of a deceased pediatrician in what dreams may come , was unfortunately lackluster .
and so , after a six - year stint as a comedic actor , the proof on whether or not williams can cut it in the dramatic league has come down to patch adams .
williams is the title character , hunter " patch " adams , sporting scruffy facial hair that falls between the clean - shavenness of dreams and the grotesque hairiness of will hunting .
we 're introduced to patch as he commits himself to a mental institution because of his suicidal tendancies .
it 's at the institution , however , that he discovers a latent talent for relating to people .
he removes himself from the institution and enrolls at the university of virginia 's medical college , where he finds that medical doctrine is a calculating , impersonal trade .
his attempts to inject humanity into the profession result in several bouts with expulsion , and the movie climaxes with patch 's appearance before the state medical board .
the characters are well - defined in an oscar - worthy sense .
although the script does not perform well as a narrative -- there 's little story to be told outside of patch 's skit - length experiences -- the script does go a long way toward building the relationships of characters .
at medical school , patch meets up with truman schiff ( daniel london ) , an outsider like himself who relishes patch 's zest for humanity .
the two instantly become the best of friends , and it 's easy to see why .
monica potter plays patch 's love interest , a young woman who personifies the things that patch hates about medical school .
for some reason he 's attracted to her , and although it never gets said , the audience understands from an intrinsic point of view .
the script -- based on hunter adams ' own story -- works well this way .
the rest of the cast , bob gunton as the villain professor in particular , is solid .
director tom shadyac ( liar liar ) leads us in and out of patch 's life in a sound , intentional manner ; combined with williams ' presence on screen , the movie rarely becomes boring .
patch adams ' lack of purpose is its major shortcoming , and for the first ninety minutes out of two hours , there 's little feeling of continuity or the passage of time .
nevertheless , it 's an emotionally moving picture , and patch adams looks to be one of the more memorable of the holiday season .
it succeeds at everything it tries , and only fails at the stuff it does n't try in the first place .
by and large there may be another oscar nomination herein for williams , but more importantly ,
it 's entertainment for the entire family .
an emotionally moving picture it succeeds at everything it tries works well this way there may be another oscar nomination is solid the movie rarely becomes boring a sound , intentional manner one of the more memorable it 's entertainment for the entire family