24 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
24 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
the long and illustrious career of robin williams , which has included both forgettable turns like mrs .
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doubtfire and flubber , was punctuated with the actor's first academy award in 1998 for his role in good will hunting .
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it was his first truly dramatic role since 1989's dead poets society , and critical remarks were unanimously positive .
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his next role , that of a deceased pediatrician in what dreams may come , was unfortunately lackluster .
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and so , after a six-year stint as a comedic actor , the proof on whether or not williams can cut it in the dramatic league has come down to patch adams .
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williams is the title character , hunter " patch " adams , sporting scruffy facial hair that falls between the clean-shavenness of dreams and the grotesque hairiness of will hunting .
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we're introduced to patch as he commits himself to a mental institution because of his suicidal tendancies .
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it's at the institution , however , that he discovers a latent talent for relating to people .
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he removes himself from the institution and enrolls at the university of virginia's medical college , where he finds that medical doctrine is a calculating , impersonal trade .
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his attempts to inject humanity into the profession result in several bouts with expulsion , and the movie climaxes with patch's appearance before the state medical board .
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the characters are well-defined in an oscar-worthy sense .
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although the script does not perform well as a narrative -- there's little story to be told outside of patch's skit-length experiences -- the script does go a long way toward building the relationships of characters .
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at medical school , patch meets up with truman schiff ( daniel london ) , an outsider like himself who relishes patch's zest for humanity .
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the two instantly become the best of friends , and it's easy to see why .
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monica potter plays patch's love interest , a young woman who personifies the things that patch hates about medical school .
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for some reason he's attracted to her , and although it never gets said , the audience understands from an intrinsic point of view .
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the script -- based on hunter adams' own story -- works well this way .
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the rest of the cast , bob gunton as the villain professor in particular , is solid .
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director tom shadyac ( liar liar ) leads us in and out of patch's life in a sound , intentional manner ; combined with williams' presence on screen , the movie rarely becomes boring .
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patch adams' lack of purpose is its major shortcoming , and for the first ninety minutes out of two hours , there's little feeling of continuity or the passage of time .
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nevertheless , it's an emotionally moving picture , and patch adams looks to be one of the more memorable of the holiday season .
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it succeeds at everything it tries , and only fails at the stuff it doesn't try in the first place .
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by and large there may be another oscar nomination herein for williams , but more importantly , it's entertainment for the entire family .
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