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Review by Susan Granger
3 stars out of 4
In this true comedy/drama, Robin Williams ("What Dreams May
Come," "Good Will Hunting") plays Hunter "Patch" Adams, a
manic-depressive who decides it's better to be a doctor than a
perennial patient. Problem is: Patch is also a clown, infuriating the
medical establishment by doing outrageous things. Based on the 1993
book "Gesundheit: Good Health is a Laughing Matter" by Hunter Doherty
Adams, the film's timely theme is the therapeutic value of humor,
characterized by a personalized approach to medicine, but writer Steve
Oedekerk and director Tom Shadyac cater to Williams' talent for
improvisation. The story begins in 1969 in Fairfax Hospital's
Psychiatric Ward, where Patch voluntarily commits himself after
attempting suicide and acquires his nickname by repairing another
inmate's paper cup with a piece of adhesive. Patch then moves on to
Virginia Medical College where, as an idealistic med student, he wants
to "treat the patient as well as the disease." He succeeds
brilliantly with the hospitalized children, using an enema bulb to
make a red nose, and even with a surly, dying patient (Peter Coyote)
but fails dismally with his up-tight roommate (Philip Seymour Hoffman)
and the villainous Dean (Bob Gunton), who is determined to expel
him. A serious fellow student (Monica Potter) with her own demons to
exorcise provides the love interest, joining Patch to create an
unconventional clinic to "use humor to cure pain and suffering" - and
their Gesundheit! Institute still proves free care in West
Virginia. There's joy and sorrow, despair and determination, not
unlike Williams' far better "Awakenings" (1990), but the conclusion is
sheer melodrama. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "Patch Adams"
is a syrupy, simplistic, sentimental 7. It's a whimsical, feel-good
film.
Copyright © 2000 Susan Granger
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