Patch Adams's biggest problem as a film is its tonal unevenness, which is a glaring attribute in the film's first fifteen minutes. Sometimes, it wants to crack jokes and laugh at a man who is catatonic (which, admittedly, makes for kind of a funny scene), and at others, it wants to rub sentimentality in your face in a way so hamfisted it's difficult to feel any real emotion. Writer Steve Oedekerk and director Tom Shadyac craft the film in such a strange and tonally inconsistent manner that real emotions are hard to distinguish from ones the film is trying to make you feel, and once you realize that, Patch Adams can never be a truly effective film.
However, it is not by any means an awful, "vile" film, as some have said. Robin Williams is simultaneously surprising and unsurprising, as he hits comedic heights and achieves dramatic success in a role that requires a whirlwind of exhausting energy all around. He plays the titular character, who's real name is Hunter Adams, where we see him commit himself to a mental hospital in the opening scene of the film (for reasons that are never really explained). In the hospital, Hunter interacts with many interesting characters, while also finding ways to annoy the hospital personnel for his often off-color attempts at humor.
After he is released from the hospital, Hunter, now going by the nickname "Patch," goes to medical school and tries to predicate his career off of helping those in upsetting situations by making them laugh and improving their mood by putting on something of a comedy act. Understandably, this upsets his peers, who are working to possess a stone-cold, serious attitude about their studies and work ethic, and his professors, who see his tactics as "goofing off" and discarding the seriousness that drives the medical field. He frazzles the nerves of not only his perfectionist roommate (Philip Seymour Hoffman) but his dean (Bob Gunton), who finds his methods to be infuriating beyond belief. Patch winds up meeting the attractive but unfriendly and frigid Carin (Monica Potter), who is attending school to learn and not socialize or try and form a relationship. Patch understands that, but wants to become friends with her because he sees her potential in the field, as well as somebody who attracts him for her beauty and her drive.
Patch winds up concocting the idea of a medical hospital built on personal friendships, humor, connections, and listening to patients rather than diagnosing them and leaving them without a possible outlet for conversation. He rounds up Carin, along with some other compassionate and wise individuals, to possibly kickstart a hospital predicated off of that specific thesis.
Williams is unbelievably talented as Patch Adams, energetic, manic, quietly-thoughtful, doe-eyed, and fun. Make no mistake, however, for the character is wise in the medical field, but believes the field needs to possess more human characteristics rather than identifying and referencing patients in numeric terms. As an actor, Williams bears an uncommon amount of energy in his performance, cycling through every emotion a man can handle and doing it with such fierce conviction. His ability to be joking about a catatonic patient one minute, and then interacting naturally with a young cancer patient the next shows diversity and talent on a grandscale for Williams as a character actor.
The issue with Patch Adams, however, is its tonal unevenness, and while this cycle of complex emotions is handled effectively by Williams, it is not displayed well through the film's editing and writing. Several scenes, especially ones that are handled with different tones and moods, feel like vignettes and do not connect well when edited together. Consider the first fifteen minutes of the film, showing Patch's life in a mental hospital. Scenes that handle what seem to be depression, humor, and receiving advice are spliced in together, one-after-another, making for a film that cannot find its own tone and stick to it. Understandably, there are a vicious cycle of feelings when handling a film about a doctor working in a hospital, but few have been this jumbled in terms of conjuring up a consistency.
Furthermore, the emotional manipulation Patch Adams commits is severely noted; this was indeed my biggest fear entering this film blindly, fearing that, being a film about dealing with the inevitably of death and suffering, as well as being a film also attempting to engage younger viewers, it would too sappy and sentimentalized. My assumptions were unfortunately correct, as Patch Adams is cloying and frustratingly basic in its emphasis of every emotional scene it houses, playing emotion-dictating piano music letting us know when we should cry and when we should be happy.
With that, Patch Adams is a mixed bag, commendable for its core performance by Robin Williams, but also contemptible for its tonal inconsistency and emotional manipulation practices. While watching the film, you may find the film bears qualities that make it hard to completely despise, but it isn't until the inevitable ending rolls around that we recall there also is a great deal we can critique.
Starring: Robin Williams, Monica Potter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Bob Gunton. Directed by: Tom Shadyac.
However, it is not by any means an awful, "vile" film, as some have said. Robin Williams is simultaneously surprising and unsurprising, as he hits comedic heights and achieves dramatic success in a role that requires a whirlwind of exhausting energy all around. He plays the titular character, who's real name is Hunter Adams, where we see him commit himself to a mental hospital in the opening scene of the film (for reasons that are never really explained). In the hospital, Hunter interacts with many interesting characters, while also finding ways to annoy the hospital personnel for his often off-color attempts at humor.
After he is released from the hospital, Hunter, now going by the nickname "Patch," goes to medical school and tries to predicate his career off of helping those in upsetting situations by making them laugh and improving their mood by putting on something of a comedy act. Understandably, this upsets his peers, who are working to possess a stone-cold, serious attitude about their studies and work ethic, and his professors, who see his tactics as "goofing off" and discarding the seriousness that drives the medical field. He frazzles the nerves of not only his perfectionist roommate (Philip Seymour Hoffman) but his dean (Bob Gunton), who finds his methods to be infuriating beyond belief. Patch winds up meeting the attractive but unfriendly and frigid Carin (Monica Potter), who is attending school to learn and not socialize or try and form a relationship. Patch understands that, but wants to become friends with her because he sees her potential in the field, as well as somebody who attracts him for her beauty and her drive.
Patch winds up concocting the idea of a medical hospital built on personal friendships, humor, connections, and listening to patients rather than diagnosing them and leaving them without a possible outlet for conversation. He rounds up Carin, along with some other compassionate and wise individuals, to possibly kickstart a hospital predicated off of that specific thesis.
Williams is unbelievably talented as Patch Adams, energetic, manic, quietly-thoughtful, doe-eyed, and fun. Make no mistake, however, for the character is wise in the medical field, but believes the field needs to possess more human characteristics rather than identifying and referencing patients in numeric terms. As an actor, Williams bears an uncommon amount of energy in his performance, cycling through every emotion a man can handle and doing it with such fierce conviction. His ability to be joking about a catatonic patient one minute, and then interacting naturally with a young cancer patient the next shows diversity and talent on a grandscale for Williams as a character actor.
The issue with Patch Adams, however, is its tonal unevenness, and while this cycle of complex emotions is handled effectively by Williams, it is not displayed well through the film's editing and writing. Several scenes, especially ones that are handled with different tones and moods, feel like vignettes and do not connect well when edited together. Consider the first fifteen minutes of the film, showing Patch's life in a mental hospital. Scenes that handle what seem to be depression, humor, and receiving advice are spliced in together, one-after-another, making for a film that cannot find its own tone and stick to it. Understandably, there are a vicious cycle of feelings when handling a film about a doctor working in a hospital, but few have been this jumbled in terms of conjuring up a consistency.
Furthermore, the emotional manipulation Patch Adams commits is severely noted; this was indeed my biggest fear entering this film blindly, fearing that, being a film about dealing with the inevitably of death and suffering, as well as being a film also attempting to engage younger viewers, it would too sappy and sentimentalized. My assumptions were unfortunately correct, as Patch Adams is cloying and frustratingly basic in its emphasis of every emotional scene it houses, playing emotion-dictating piano music letting us know when we should cry and when we should be happy.
With that, Patch Adams is a mixed bag, commendable for its core performance by Robin Williams, but also contemptible for its tonal inconsistency and emotional manipulation practices. While watching the film, you may find the film bears qualities that make it hard to completely despise, but it isn't until the inevitable ending rolls around that we recall there also is a great deal we can critique.
Starring: Robin Williams, Monica Potter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Bob Gunton. Directed by: Tom Shadyac.