Patch Adams (1998)

Directed by Tom Shadyac. Starring Robin Williams, Monica Potter, Daniel London, Bob Gunton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Josef Sommer, Harve Presnell, Irma P. Hall, Frances Lee McCain, Peter Coyote, Michael Jeter, Harold Gould. [PG-13]

Revoltingly wrong-headed and sanctimonious account of Hunter “Patch” Adams (Williams), a real-life medical student who decides that treating patients based on their ailments and the studied science of medicine and biology is useless; instead, go full Donald O’Connor and make ‘em laugh! A manipulative tearjerker, and a wholly ineffective one at that; instead of making the heart swell in favor of the wannabe-doc’s cause, it inspires sympathy for the “villains” of the piece who accurately nay-say him at every turn. One awful screenplay decision after another (inventing Potter’s character for the sake of cheap tragedy takes the cake, but the insufferably clichéd court scene at the end comes close). It certainly doesn’t help that Williams is obnoxiously unfunny to the point of bewilderment throughout—when cancer patient Coyote angrily tells him to get out of his hospital room, the urge to stand up and cheer is difficult to resist. Preachy, patronizing, syrupy, unctuous, the list goes on… The real Adams (who understandably hated this movie) is an interesting and respectable fella; here, he’s shown stealing medical supplies and constantly acting like a clown. Does provide one good lesson: if a sick person is refusing to eat, just fill up a small swimming pool with pasta and drown them in it! (Sure beats drowning people in smarmy sap, which is precisely what the filmmakers do to the audience.)

2/100