Patch Adams - Collector's Edition
by Tom Shadyac
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DVD details
Actor: Bob Gunton, Daniel London, Monica Potter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin WilliamsDirector: Tom Shadyac
Brand: Universal Studios
Producer: Alan B. Curtiss
Producer: Allegra Clegg
Producer: Barry Kemp
Producer: Charles Newirth
Writer: Maureen Mylander
Writer: Patch Adams
Writer: Steve Oedekerk
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.0; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.0; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.0; French (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 5.0
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-11
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of Patch Adams - Collector's Edition
DVD Review: Forget the critics, this one's mostly a winner...
Summary: 4 Stars
Positive or negative audience "hype" and critical praise or thumbs down have rarely had much of an effect on me. Audiences can often get it all wrong in my view, or all right, and so it goes as well for "professional" movie reviewers. Most of the latter got this one all wrong in blasting it as most have. To me however, while certainly with flaws, this movie aims straight for the heart, and gets things right more often than not. It is both a drama and a comedy, and while there are some rather jarring cuts between the two, in the end, this film's heart (and socio-political statement) is certainly in the right spot throughout. And more true today (unfortunately) than when it was first released or realized and lived out by the real life person upon which this is all based, "Patch Adams."
The fantastic opening scene and voice-over narrative by Robin Williams, accompanied by simple piano music (which swells to orchestral), introduces us to Patch (as he would later be called), a sad, depressed, self-pitying, aging young man on his way to nowhere, and to the "nut house" after a failed suicide attempt. He "self-admits" himself to a hospital psycho ward, after having tried almost every remedy and "prescription drug" (evidenced in his bathroom medicine chest), given him by the established medical "industry." What he finds there, and later, and what he discovers about himself and others, remains a searing indictment of that "industry" and what is and is not considered "normal." Institution-wise...
Those institutions are truly a daily, functioning contradiction. On the one hand, hospitals and doctors have as their guiding principle (or so they say), the noblest of goals. To treat people in need, to care for the sick and for those without the means to care for themselves, and to acknowledge that we are all basically just human beings living out our lives together in a "society" where the "Golden Rule" is actually the only one which matters. But who, if they've been run through the impersonal, profit-oriented HMO horror that is the state of today's "medical care," who, if they've ever spent any amount of time "in the hospital," or fighting with cold, impersonal "health insurance" agencies and agents and unreasonable costs, would agree with the notion that "altruistic" and "loving" personal care shouldn't play a large part in any truly civilized health care "system?"
Only but the most cold-hearted cynic about life and the sanctity of that, and those who consider the medical profession as just another "business," could deny that increasing the "personalizing" of the doctor-patient relationship, could do anything but positive things. Old habits and customs, old traditions and ways of thinking die hard however. Is and was the "philosophy" of Dr. Hunter "Patch" Adams really all that bizarre or unworkable? Or is and was it an attempt to just return to the "good old days" when a doctor would actually get his/her butt over to your house and tend to your sick child or you or a loved one, because they gave a damn? Or "take your call." Or fight against the medical corporate interests that inhibit the very practice and art of medicine and healing itself? Because it was (and should supposedly remain) their very oath to do so?
In an early part of the film, a psychiatrist who is supposed to be "helping" Patch and at the very least, "listening" to him, fiddles around with his coffee, avoids eye contact, and eventually doesn't even hear what Patch says. A bit later, Patch opts to dismiss himself from the institution, for the obvious reason that he's just not getting any true medical help there. The psychiatrist, ego puffed up, tells Patch that he disagrees with the early release, and that after all, "he" is the doctor. In a wonderful, fleeting, but finely powerful moment, Patch replies, "Yeah, but you suck at it." Patch says he thinks he can do better, and at a much later than normal age, applies to and is accepted into a prestigious medical school, and goes about proving that the personal touch is the most sound one a doctor can give to their patients. He does so with humor, and various more touching serious moments, but is fought every step along the way by the university and medical "establishment." Patch's attempts to fight along the way, and his romantic interests and encouragements, disappointments, and eventual realizations, make up the bulk of the film. And this real life story is nothing but an inspiration, especially to those who just know in their hearts that there is something dreadfully wrong with the American health care "industry, but that there just may be hope, if doctors were only to reach the awareness and enlightenment about the doctor-patient relationship that Patch did. As both a patient and a doctor.
While there are many missteps along the way, particularly in the often too-strident aspects of switching from drama to comedy, as well as turning from a personal story along the way into more of a broader, more philosophical and political denunciation of the university-trained and health-care "commerce" without needed cinematic transitional techniques, most of this works beautifully, and touchingly.
The film reminded me of many of my favorite movies of the past along the general "theme" celebrating the wisdom and morality of the common, caring individual caught up in a crazy world, including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Next," "Forrest Gump," and "The Grapes of Wrath." While admittedly over the top and bordering on pretentious at times, "Patch Adams" remains one of my favorite films of all time, despite drawbacks. I think this movie should be required viewing for medical school students, who may not, like the critics, "get it." In addition, they should all have to watch it again and again until they do. And that goes for dental students/dentists as well.
A Golden Globe nominee for best picture in its time, and rightly so.
Description of Patch Adams - Collector's Edition
PATCH ADAMS - DVD MoviePatch Adams raises two schools of thought: There are those who are inspired by the true story of a troubled man who finds happiness in helping others--a man set on changing the world and who may well accomplish the task. And then there are those who feel manipulated by this feel-good story, who want to smack the young medical student every time he begins his silly antics.
Staving off suicidal thoughts, Hunter Adams commits himself into a psychiatric ward, where he not only garners the nickname "Patch," but learns the joy in helping others. To this end, he decides to go to medical school, where he clashes with the staid conventions of the establishment as he attempts to inject humor and humanity into his treatment of the patients ("We need to start treating the patient as well as the disease," he declares throughout the film). Robin Williams, in the title role, is as charming as ever, although someone should tell him to broaden his range--the ever-cheerful do-gooder à la Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society is getting a little old. His sidekick Truman (Daniel London) steals the show with his gawky allure and eyebrows that threaten to overtake his lean face--he seems more real, which is odd considering that Patch Adams does exist and this film is based on his life. Monica Potter is the coolly reluctant love interest, and she makes the most of her one-dimensional part. While moments of true heartfelt emotion do come through, the major flaw of this film is that the good guys are just so gosh-darn good and the bad ones are just big meanies with no character development. Patch Adams, though, does provide the tears, the giggles, and the kooky folks who will keep you smiling at the end. --Jenny Brown
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