Review of The Patriot (2000) by Cameron J — 23 May 2012

Man, between Roland Emmerich, Mel Gibson and Joker from "The Dark Knight", this is bound to be one crazy sequel to "Braveheart", and yes, I know that this isn't "Braveheart II: Will Wallace Takes America", but it's not too hard to tell that they want you to think that with this premise and that poster, and I can understand why they would think that would work, considering that die-hard Emmerich fans are bound to be that stupid. This film should tell you how much Emmerich squanders potential like crazy, seeing as how this is perhaps his best film and not even it's not at all as good as it should have been, and the film should also secure the fact that the German nutjob wants to be American so bad, because not only is this film about as pro-'Merica as the rednecks who would probably love it, but it's riddled with inaccuracies, unsubtleties and dumb explostions, and Michael Bay wannabes don't get that much more American. Come to think of it, this film has a couple of people who want to be American, except maybe Mel Gibson, and even then, I don't know if he was so much retreating to Australia or if he simply spent so much time down under that he just forgot that he is American. It's a shame he couldn't remember fast enough to prevent adopting that Australian rage or, rather, Aussietude that got him in so much trouble that his career has gone so far south that you can barely see the great acting talent anywhere anymore. Oh man, I miss Mel Gibson, and I sometimes lay awake at nights from missing Heath Ledger (Speaking of "Brokeback Mountain", that sounded about as gay as Emmerich), and all the while, we couldn't get rid of Roland Emmerich if we tried, and boy should we be trying. The only thing more painful than that is the fact that I have to confess to actually liking this film, which isn't to say that I haven't found other Emmerich films just fine, but this is, from what I've seen, his only genuinely good film. Still, it just barely lands that mark, and I'm not just saying that because I don't like Roland Emmerich; I'm saying it because this film has plenty of points where it still reminds me why I don't like the hack.

Much like the general of the colonial army this film is centered around, I can not tell a lie, this film opens up, albeit generically, but generally rock solid, though I knew it wouldn't last for long. Sure enough, the film soon fell something fast and something fierce, decidedly never to a terribly low point, yet low enough for the chance of full potential fulfillment to die on its feet, gunned down partially by a tragic lack of subtlety. A deal of characters feel exaggerated and artificially supplementary, especially the embarassingly ultra villainized English antagonists, while some of the larger roles go with limited layers, something I could forgive for a typical action epic of a similar nature, but these characters, while also written rather exaggerated, remain conceptually layered, and deeply so, only to have those layers stripped in execution, landing a blow to the film's depth and bringing more to attention such other pieces of manipulation as a considerable degree of melodrama, some gratuitous ultraviolence and a couple of glaring inaccuracies. Still, what might hurt the film the most is simply its story structure and telling, as the film hits points where it feels hurried and summarizing, as well as points where it meditative perhaps too thoroughly on the expendable. Still, at the end of the day, the ultimate issue with the story structure is that it is so very wildly formulaic, falling into most every trope and bump you can expect from a film of this type, something I could very easily forgive, seeing as how another 2000 epic featuring a typical potential-squnaderer of a director, "Gladiator", celebrated its conventions and emerged much better for it, yet where Ridley Scott was just workmanlike enough to leave the promises of that film intact, Roland Emmerich and is too mediocre of one for the film to standout through the faults in its structure. However, it's still within the story structure where the film succeeds, or at least to me, because I am a sucker for these kind of films, even though this one disappoints as an example that fails to stand out as well as others. The film stands to be better, yet still comes out as shockingly more rewarding than expected, considering the idiot director attached, and a large part of the reason why is the fact that the film mostly pushes Emmerich aside, or at least until it needs something stylish, because you not only don't need to be a genius to appreciate something cool or pretty, but it actually kind of helps to be a little stupid.

As far style and spectacle, Emmerich is still not on the directing skill level of the Michael Bay he wishes he could be, yet his films are almost always, if nothing else, handsome, and this film is no exception, with Caleb Deschanel's cinematography not being necessarily constant in its greatness, but still really taking your breath away when the glory of Deschanel's artistic eye is used to the fullest, because the boy sure knows pretty, which would explain why his daughter is so cute, even though, considering that she was in "Almost Famous" the year this film came out, she appears to have a better taste in movies to attach to. The cinematography captures the sweep and awe of the time and battlefield, with excellent production designs helping a great deal, and when all of that goes into supplementing the action sequences, expect much sweep and dazzle as Emmerich does, well, the only thing he does all that well. Still, while Emmerich delivers on style, it's substance that could make or break a film of this type, and while neither Emmerich's heart nor ability are in the substance enough for it to really leave all that much of an impact, his supporting team amazingly manages to transcend that and create resonance that could have been stronger if the film was with more subtlety, as well as much better writing and directing, yet still pulls through and keeps you going with investment, whether it be through the aforementioned sobering dazzle of Caleb Deschanel's gorgeous cinematography, John William's conventional yet as always amazing score or simply some of the acting. Again, Roland Emmerich is such a weak director, and that's something that can be discerned through some of his performers, alone, as some of your less experienced performers feel directed fairly weakly, if not just plain badly, yet with the more primary cast featuring Tom Wilkinson, Chris Cooper, Heath Ledger and Mel Gibson, needless to say, Emmerich can't beat all the talent. The late, great Heath Ledger's character of a young and ambitious patriot going behind the requests of the more competent to throw himself into manhood and dangerous situations that he's not prepared for is a terribly conventional one, yet one who Ledger portrays with a kind of charisma and spirit that feels unique enough for the character to transcend its one-note structure and earn investment as a compelling and sympathetic character with much vulnerability, yet still much potential. Much of the same can be said about other conventional characters, some of which are too messily handled to stand as all that effective, yet are still with enough acting skill at their back for them to carry on and keep the film going. Still, the real star of the show is, well, the star of the show, Mel Gibson, whose material may not be all that consistent in its prevalence, yet is still there enough for Gibson to embody the spirit of the Benjamin Martin character with a strong presence of charisma and force, as well as vulnerability and even some deep emotion, leaving him to stand among the key aspects in this film's emerging as a surprisingly engaging final product.

Overall, melodrama and gaps in subtlety intensify the sting of inaccuracy, while dumping salt in the wounds opened by spotty spots in the structure and Roland Emmerich's predictably faulty execution of the overly formulaic story, yet it remains a worthy story told stylishly through dazzling cinematography, excellent production designs and sweeping action sequences, while shockingly rather resonant substance spawned from a weak tone empowered just enough by strong supplementing score work, style and some performances - especially that of Mel Gibson - to mostly transcend the many faults in Emmerich's direction and ultimately leave "The Patriot" to stand as his, from what I've seen, only genuinely good film, as well as a thoroughly entertaining and unexepectedly rather compelling epic, on its own.

3/5 - Good.