poster boy for co-dependency needs patching 
patch adams a film review by michael redman copyright 1999 by michael redman 
mediocrity is a pox on civilization . 
in our heavily consumer oriented society , there is an enormous demand to churn out " stuff . " 
what would happen to our economy if we didn't feel the need to have more things ? 
to make us buy more , businesses need to produce a ton of product . 
the sheer volume of items necessitates that most of them are of dubious quality . 
the film industry is like any other . 
in order for studios to survive , they have to make money . 
the prevailing attitude is that more films equal more profit . 
some movies obviously exist only to put wares on the screen and to do that , less talented people are used . 
there aren't enough great directors and actors to create the number of films necessary . 
for some reason , it's never crossed anyone's mind that the real equation is quality films = more profit . 
often , mediocre films are more of a pain for the audience than the horrendous ones . 
at you can have a good time making fun of bad movies . 
i'm not suggesting that " patch adams " was tossed out just to rake in the bucks . 
my guess is that someone was asleep at the wheel . 
it features an accomplished actor and a potentially engrossing story , but it's as dull as could be . 
hunter " patch " adams' ( robin williams ) desire to become a doctor has an unusual genesis . 
checking himself into a mental institute after a suicide attempt , he discovers that he can help the other patients by clowning around . 
patch could be a poster boy for co-dependency . 
he explains that he likes devoting himself to others because then he doesn't focus on his own problems . 
he decides that he wants to be a physician , leaves the place and a couple of years later enrolls in the medical college of virginia . 
as a med student , patch's antics at the school's hospital catch the attention of his soon to be arch-enemy , straight-laced dean walcott ( bob gunton ) . 
the dean is so opposed to the goofiness that he wants patch kicked out of school although he's one of the top students . 
he writes in patch's academic file that he shows " excessive happiness . " 
i walked into the film knowing little about its history and wondered about its odd mechanical pacing . 
there also seemed to be no reason that it is set in the early seventies . 
then it struck me . 
it must be based on a true story . 
the movie is an adaptation of a book by hunter adams who founded the gesundheit institute , a free clinic . 
robin williams is an amazing actor . 
while he is adept at dramatic roles , his forte is over-the-top free spirits . 
that's what makes his failure here so remarkable . 
patch is exactly the character he should be best at , yet even the scene where he and another mental patient are battling fierce imaginary squirrels falls flat . 
something holds him back . 
most of the rest of the cast is two-dimensional . 
for a film that champions seeing patients as human beings , it's curious that the ones here are cardboard characters . 
peter coyote as a man dying of cancer is refreshing because he seems like a real person . 
unfortunately he's in the film for only about two minutes . 
the audience is blatantly lead by a ring in its nose from scene to scene . 
we're not left to our own emotional decisions : we're hit over the head with them . 
shaved-headed children with cancer , an elderly woman whom patch makes laugh , a beautiful woman who can't love because of her abusive history . 
when a group of students fix up an old house to use as a clinic in the andy hardy " hey , let's put on a play ! 
we can use the barn and my mom can make the curtains ! " 
mode , they laugh and roll around while painting each other . 
there might as well be giant signs flashing : " feel good now ! " 
 " feel bad now ! " 
 " patch " is a good title for the film . 
it is a patchwork of every manipulative scene you can think of . 
the full-of-life student fights stodgy establishment types . 
there's a touching death . 
then there's another . 
the film doesn't trust us to get it the first time . 
the dean tries to kick patch out and later he tries again . 
worst of all is the final courtroom bit . 
scary-looking old men sit in judgment of a man who only wants to help people . 
the room is packed with patch's supporters . 
williams makes a supposedly impassioned speech about the humanity of all . 
it has as much emotion as his earlier statement " humans are the only animal that kills members of its own species " contains truth . 
most of the blame must be placed with the director tom shadyac and screenwriter steve oedekerk . 
shadyac also directed the first " ace ventura " movie . 
oedekerk directed the second one . 
need i say more ? 
the real adams is to be admired for his devotion to treating patients as people rather than diseases . 
the film has a number of worthy messages about the state of the modern medical business with hmos and managed care . 
the " doctors are not gods " theme will resonate with a number of people , but it's so poorly produced that no one will care .