68 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
68 lines
5.1 KiB
Plaintext
poster boy for co-dependency needs patching
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patch adams a film review by michael redman copyright 1999 by michael redman
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mediocrity is a pox on civilization .
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in our heavily consumer oriented society , there is an enormous demand to churn out " stuff . "
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what would happen to our economy if we didn't feel the need to have more things ?
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to make us buy more , businesses need to produce a ton of product .
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the sheer volume of items necessitates that most of them are of dubious quality .
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the film industry is like any other .
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in order for studios to survive , they have to make money .
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the prevailing attitude is that more films equal more profit .
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some movies obviously exist only to put wares on the screen and to do that , less talented people are used .
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there aren't enough great directors and actors to create the number of films necessary .
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for some reason , it's never crossed anyone's mind that the real equation is quality films = more profit .
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often , mediocre films are more of a pain for the audience than the horrendous ones .
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at you can have a good time making fun of bad movies .
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i'm not suggesting that " patch adams " was tossed out just to rake in the bucks .
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my guess is that someone was asleep at the wheel .
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it features an accomplished actor and a potentially engrossing story , but it's as dull as could be .
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hunter " patch " adams' ( robin williams ) desire to become a doctor has an unusual genesis .
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checking himself into a mental institute after a suicide attempt , he discovers that he can help the other patients by clowning around .
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patch could be a poster boy for co-dependency .
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he explains that he likes devoting himself to others because then he doesn't focus on his own problems .
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he decides that he wants to be a physician , leaves the place and a couple of years later enrolls in the medical college of virginia .
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as a med student , patch's antics at the school's hospital catch the attention of his soon to be arch-enemy , straight-laced dean walcott ( bob gunton ) .
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the dean is so opposed to the goofiness that he wants patch kicked out of school although he's one of the top students .
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he writes in patch's academic file that he shows " excessive happiness . "
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i walked into the film knowing little about its history and wondered about its odd mechanical pacing .
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there also seemed to be no reason that it is set in the early seventies .
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then it struck me .
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it must be based on a true story .
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the movie is an adaptation of a book by hunter adams who founded the gesundheit institute , a free clinic .
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robin williams is an amazing actor .
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while he is adept at dramatic roles , his forte is over-the-top free spirits .
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that's what makes his failure here so remarkable .
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patch is exactly the character he should be best at , yet even the scene where he and another mental patient are battling fierce imaginary squirrels falls flat .
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something holds him back .
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most of the rest of the cast is two-dimensional .
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for a film that champions seeing patients as human beings , it's curious that the ones here are cardboard characters .
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peter coyote as a man dying of cancer is refreshing because he seems like a real person .
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unfortunately he's in the film for only about two minutes .
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the audience is blatantly lead by a ring in its nose from scene to scene .
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we're not left to our own emotional decisions : we're hit over the head with them .
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shaved-headed children with cancer , an elderly woman whom patch makes laugh , a beautiful woman who can't love because of her abusive history .
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when a group of students fix up an old house to use as a clinic in the andy hardy " hey , let's put on a play !
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we can use the barn and my mom can make the curtains ! "
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mode , they laugh and roll around while painting each other .
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there might as well be giant signs flashing : " feel good now ! "
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" feel bad now ! "
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" patch " is a good title for the film .
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it is a patchwork of every manipulative scene you can think of .
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the full-of-life student fights stodgy establishment types .
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there's a touching death .
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then there's another .
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the film doesn't trust us to get it the first time .
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the dean tries to kick patch out and later he tries again .
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worst of all is the final courtroom bit .
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scary-looking old men sit in judgment of a man who only wants to help people .
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the room is packed with patch's supporters .
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williams makes a supposedly impassioned speech about the humanity of all .
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it has as much emotion as his earlier statement " humans are the only animal that kills members of its own species " contains truth .
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most of the blame must be placed with the director tom shadyac and screenwriter steve oedekerk .
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shadyac also directed the first " ace ventura " movie .
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oedekerk directed the second one .
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need i say more ?
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the real adams is to be admired for his devotion to treating patients as people rather than diseases .
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the film has a number of worthy messages about the state of the modern medical business with hmos and managed care .
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the " doctors are not gods " theme will resonate with a number of people , but it's so poorly produced that no one will care .
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