Review of Patch Adams (1998) by Pacifistcritic — 25 Jan 2014
When I watched this movie Health class, I was interested to see what it was about. I was met with a gloomy, depressing scenario of Patch arriving to a mental asylum. I was happy so far when Patch met with someone to "look beyond" just 4 fingers and that Patch helped his roommate reach the bathroom with his childlike imagination.
But then, everything got running downhill when Patch forced that mental hospital doctor to let him out and told him that he sucked at his job. Patch then proceeds to claim that he is helping people, even if he is acting very arrogant.
Then, when I looked on the Internet, Patch Adams was actually a real person in real life. This movie, as it turns out, was not a correct description of the real Patch Adams. Unfortunately, in the movie Patch Adams was usually portrayed as a funnyman who tries to make patients laugh rather than truly cure them of their illnesses.
The other characters, such as Carin, Patch's college roommate and the Dean, feel like they are just created to make Patch the most likable with their actions against Patch(ex.ignoring Patch's assistance, tattling on Patch, and threatening to expel Patch).
That includes the people who love Patch, they are usually portrayed as the "nice" people just because of their affiliation with Patch. The way how the butterfly, ALONG with the sappy music playing during that scene made it's way to Patch suddenly was also rather shallow and cheesy.
It feels like the butterfly was there to make the movie so charming too. I also did not like the way the mentally ill guy was portrayed in that movie, he was treated as "psychopathic" because of the way he gave "weird looks" to Carin, before killing her and himself.
The scene when Carin gets killed felt forced and contrived in order to provoke drama so that Patch could commit suicide again. I even HATED that ending when Patch exposes his nude buttocks to the audience at his graduation ceremony, and.
.. the movie suddenly ends with a note I can't remember.
This review of Patch Adams (1998) was written by Pacifistcritic on 25 Jan 2014.
Patch Adams has generally received positive reviews.
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