Patch Adams

The thing about Patch Adams is that there is a really touching and really great movie just trying to get out here. You've got a really great performance by Robin Williams, a really interesting story in the biography of Patch Adams, and a lot of other things that could make this movie a great film.

And the truth is, I enjoyed this film. I got the warm and fuzzies, I enjoyed William's performance, the good things about this film were things I enjoyed. But the things that need to be said about this film that aren't so good are pretty obvious and I can pin point them very clearly.

The movie starts with the center on Hunter "Patch" Adams (played by Williams) admitting himself to a mental institution after he had suicidal thoughts.

His time in the mental institution is short lived as he realizes that he has a passion for helping people and wants to become a doctor. I will say that his realization comes very, VERY quickly. He has a couple interactions with the patients in the hospital but its really one interaction with his roommate that makes him release himself from the hospital and its kind of a very quick transition.

But that's okay because the main focus is on his time at the Medical College of Virginia and his journey to becoming a doctor.

Unfortunately, this movie really relies heavily on the conventions you've seen in multiple movies, especially a lot of roles that Williams has done himself before.

Very similar to the role that Williams had in Good Morning Vietnam, Patch believes that humor is a great form of medicine. More importantly, he believes there is room for the current medical field to grow as it, at the time of this movie, has turned into a field of prestige and calculative methods rather than focusing on helping people and improving quality of life. Like his role in Good Morning Vietnam, Williams's character and his methods buck the status quo and the system that all the other doctors and medical students have been studying for years.

So yeah, the plot of this story is very similar to Good Morning Vietnam in that its another story of Robin Williams bucking the system that just find his humor and sense of human connection "Most Unorthodox"

Eventually, Patch comes up with the idea to open up a free clinic and help sick people without charging them or making them feel as though they are subjects but instead are respected by the doctors. (I'll get to this in a second)

Along the way, Patch meets a group of friends that either buy into his unorthodox ways, or buck him every chance that they can get. His friends include the ambitious Carin Fisher (played by Monica Fisher) who believes that its her duty to be the successful female of the medical community. His buddy Truman (played by Daniel London, talk about a guy who has done almost nothing past this film) who just kind of goes along with whatever Patch does.

And then of course you have your obstacles, the people who disagree with Patch so much that they just want to see him fail.

You of course have the Dean of the School (played by Bob Gunton) who doesn't like Patch's spirit and his incredible happiness.

Then there's Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing probably the most over the top stooge in the entire movie who is a student who comes from a long line of doctors and doesn't like Patch because he seems to be mocking the system he holds in such high regard.

It may sound like the casting of this movie is not very good, but the truth is, this is actually a pretty good cast. As much as Bob Gunton continues to play the same role over and over again where he's the authority figure with nothing but contempt for the main character (The Shawshank Redemption, etc.) he does a good job at creating an obstacle for Patch. Monica Fisher and Daniel London are good supporting characters and their relationship with Patch seems genuine. Hoffman's performance is a little bit over the top, but you kind of need that stooge douchebag character, so I'll let it slide.

The biggest problem with this movie is the writing.

A lot of the movie is very, VERY sappy. While the performances of Williams and others are good, there are a lot of moments that are suppose to be heartwarming, or their suppose to be heart wrenching, and while some of them work, with a lot of credit going to Williams just having that heart warming air about him (I swear, even in Insomnia, I connected with his murderous character mainly because it was Williams.) But there were many moments where it was very forced and seemed as though it was really trying to make you feel something.

On top of that, there are a couple of plot holes in the movie that are a little hard to explain. So much that when the credits rolled and my dad realized that this was a true story, he said, "I'm not totally sure that's how it happened"

Adams opens up this free clinic and starts treating people. Well he's practicing without a license. Whether or not this hospital he creates was an orthodox way of treating patients or not, he was still doing it illegally. And they really kind of brush that aside.

Earlier in the film, he's going around interacting with patients even though he's been told multiple times that if he keeps on doing that he's going to get kicked out of school. And yet, the very next scene, he's right back doing his thing.

At the beginning of the movie, it really comes down to them all saying, oh that's just Patch Adams, he's unorthodox and quirky, but there are a couple moments that people see him do something that is most definitely dangerous, against the rules, or could have horrible consequences if things went wrong.

But instead of reporting him, or getting him in trouble, they just kind of laugh it off like he's a rambunctious kid. There's bucking authority, and then there's whatever happens in this film, and I totally understand why my dad was kind of brought out of it, because there are some really unanswered questions by the end of this film, and the only recourse to those things that happen are, oh he's just quirky and different.

The lesson of Patch Adams is a good one. The importance of human connection is something that we all want in our doctors and its important to note that if you want to help people, no matter what the field is, the focus should be on others, not the prestige or the seriousness that takes you away from actually helping people.

Its a good message.

The problem with it is that its so bashed over your head and its put in such black and white terms that there really isn't much to think about. Everyone who doesn't adhere to Patch's methods are pretentious and wrong. There are different ways of doing medicine and people get different things out of being doctors.

Like I said before, there are really good things about this film. Williams of course gives a really genuine performance, even if it is not exactly written the best. The performances are for the most part pretty good. And the message is pretty good.

The real Patch Adams has come and said that he's not a huge fan of this movie along with a lot of critics.

I won't say I hate this movie because as much as I can see through some of the conventions that this movie is using to make me feel, I do like Williams in this role, I do love the message, and I realize what they were trying to do, even if it didn't exactly work out that way.

Its just a testament to the fact that not all of a beloved actor's work is going to be beloved. That's not to say Robin Williams's career is tarnished or not as good as people say it was, it really was. And whether or not you like this movie, I don't think you can't come out of this movie without acknowledging the heart Williams and other put into it. It wasn't a half assed movie by any means, it just could have used a little bit more work to make it something incredible instead of passable with a lot of obvious flaws.

But those are my thoughts on Patch Adams. What do you think of this film? Comment and Discuss below! Also follow me on Twitter @cmhaugen24 to get updates on movie news and reviews that I post on this blog. You can also shoot me your thoughts and give me requests for future reviews as well.

I'll leave you with this. This is Jimmy Fallon's tribute to Robin Williams. Enjoy!