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Well I was finally able to make it to the theater and watch the perennial number two at the box office, Patch Adams starring Robin Williams as who else, Patch Adams. Hello again and welcome back to the Out & About Movie Review, I'm your movie dude Mike Stevens. So we'll get right to the plot of this blockbuster. We start out with Patch driving himself to a special hospital for mentally not well people, also known as the loony bin. It seems old Patch has had a difficult life and thus was trying to end it, so he checks himself in. While there, Patch discovers that he can help other people, and what's more is that he enjoys doing this. So he checks himself out of the hospital against the doctor's wishes. Then suddenly it is two years later and Patch is starting med. school in Virginia. There he meets his new roommate Mitch, played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who you might remember from Scent of a Woman as the one with bad eyesight. Mitch is a third generation doctor who abhors Patch for getting involved with his patients, and is jealous of him because Patch doesn't study much, yet is at the top of his class. Also at school he meets Truman and Carin. Truman is played by Daniel London, Carin by Monica Potter. Truman is another socially inept med student who becomes friends of Patch after watching Patch get rejected by Carin. Carin is one of eight female med students who we discover later has some serious baggage, and she is also Patch's love interest. And finally there is Bob Gunton as Dean Walcott, the evil man trying to expel Patch for unconventional medicine. As I was saying earlier Patch arrives on campus and starts experimenting with humor to heal. For experiment he and Truman pretend to be meatpackers and attend one of their conventions, where Robin Williams gets to be Robin Williams and put on a show. Next the dynamic duo heads for the university hospital in their new white lab coats. At the hospital Williams tries humor to help alleviate the pain of the patients. So Patch becomes a clown for the children's ward, and helps to light up the kid's day. Hunter Patch Adams continues to go to the hospital, but he starts to get in trouble with the dean for excessive happiness. All the while Patch is also trying to win over the heart of Carin. Will Patch and Carin hook-up and make babies, will Patch graduate and become a doctor, these stories and more in the movie Patch Adams? Back to reality and the movie. Williams puts in another great performance, watch Dead Poets Society, The Fisher King, Good Morning Vietnam, and Good Will Hunting for other good dramatic examples, and Mrs. Doubtfire or The Birdcage for comedic examples. The supporting cast was OK, with Bob Gunton putting in a good performance as the evil dean. Patch Adams is rated PG-13, has no nudity, and is directed by Tom Shadyac, the director of The Nutty Professor and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. I really liked Patch Adams, and of course I still think Robin Williams is one of the top two actors. On a side note, this film is based on a true story. So now it is finally time for the Out & About Rating of this Universal Pictures release, which gets a nine, one less than the last Robin Williams picture that we reviewed here on this couch. For the Out & About Movie Review I am Mike Stevens your movie guide, goodnight, and good riddance. Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:45:21 AM |
