Main cast: Mel Gibson (Benjamin Martin), Heath Ledger (Gabriel Edward Martin), Gregory Smith (Thomas Martin), Trevor Morgan (Nathan Martin), Bryan Chafin (Samuel Martin), Logan Lerman (William Martin), Mika Boorem (Margaret Martin), Skye McCole Bartusiak (Susan Martin), Joely Richardson (Charlotte Selton), Jason Isaacs (Colonel William Tavington), Chris Cooper (Colonel Harry Burwell), Tchéky Karyo (Major Jean Villeneuve), René Auberjonois (Reverend Oliver), Lisa Brenner (Anne Patricia Howard Martin), Tom Wilkinson (Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis), Peter Woodward (Brigadier General Charles O’Hara), Donal Logue (Dan Scott), Leon Rippy (John Billings), Adam Baldwin (Captain James Wilkins), Jamieson K Price (Captain Bordon), Jay Arlen Jones (Occam), and Joey D Vieira (Peter Howard)
Director: Roland Emmerich
What a disappointment! The Patriot isn’t a Revolutionary War classic. It’s more of a rampage with clichés with the Revolutionary War as a window dressing. Just think of Mel Gibson’s Benjamin Martin as T-200 and the one-dimensional evil William Tavington as the T-1000 and watch them let everything rip.
The plot? Benjamin Martin, who isn’t a racist like some people are saying (not in this movie anyway), is a peaceful man now looking forward to raise his seven kids and live happily in a farm. But his past, as a super soldier in some war, won’t let him be. His son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger is wasted here as he plays nothing but eye candy) joins the army. Mel treats every ill soldier in his house regardless of nationality, and as a result, his house got burned down and another son shot by the evil Willy Tavington. Benjy saves Gabby from hanging, and together, they become The Ghost, some sort of one man Robin-Hood-meets-The-Terminator. If that’s not enough, we have Benjy waving the American flag as he rallies everyone to kick the Brits’ stuffy backsides out of good ol’ Uncle Sam’s hair.
Mix in some really silly dialogues, some things that happen only in Illogical and Implausible County, and don’t forget the token black noble guy, and The Patriot ends up like a grade school production granted a lavish budget – grandiose and overly patriotic without making any sense.
