saw The Patriot at the $.50 matinee theater. the movie has gotten so-so reviews. reviews i can certainly understand. i disagree a little, as i will explain.
first things first. this movie was long. no, long. no, looooooooooong. too long. that's my main gripe. somebody somewhere indulged Mr. Gibson too damn much here.
that being said, this movie rocked. it rocked when they decided to get to the action and leave the weepy sentimentality to the way side where it belongs. the battle scenes were grand - giving Gladiator a run for the best battle scene (though not quite winning) award. the smaller fight scenes were Gibson uses his sons to kill red coats and scenes where Gibson gets all 1800's on British ass all were well done and well paced. great stuff.
the villains were too evil. nary a haughty brit accent to be found, however. just too pat. you know they are gonna do something stupid like give Gibson a personal reason to get into the war he opposes. so, like idiots, they do. morons.
anyway, bang bang - problem solved.
i didn't really care about the historical inaccuracies or the breathing black prop, but then i don't think you, the viewer, were meant to do so. i didn't feel it really detracted from the film.
so, worth a rental, mainly because your sofa or recliner has got to be more comfortable than that damn theater chair. so rent it. just don't have anywhere to go for 4 hours.
