The Patriot

Not all filmmakers are willing to let something as trivial as historical accuracy get in the way of telling a compelling story and a fine example of this would be when German director, Roland Emmerich, made The Patriot which released in 2000. This was the man who had been busy the decade prior finding ways to blow-up America, and he would continue to do so in the years after, but there he was making a film about the foundation of a nation. 

The story here follows a single father trying to prevent his family from becoming engulfed in the uprising against the British that is happening all around him but his eldest son insists on joining the local militia groups as the Revolutionary War starts to take shape. However, what starts as distant battles soon land on his doorstep and then tragedy soon strikes the father to take-up arms and join the fight.

Emmerich is best known for his visual effects but here he is shooting on location with minimal use of CGI, and so what we have is a sweeping epic that brings plenty of great visuals on a practical scale. And for the most-part, Emmerich succeeds on crafting an engaging story with bloody action, a great score by John Williams and a very solid cast, with Mel Gibson on top form in the leading role as the father. Meanwhile, Jason Isaacs is superb as the oh-so-evil British colonel even if it all veers into Dick Dastardly territory. 

But at 165 minutes, The Patriot isn't exactly an easy watch to do in one sitting and I did find a lot of the pacing to dissipate around the third quarter of the film after what had been an engaging story to that point. Things do recover in the climatic battle but it does hinder the film a little and will have some checking to see how much longer is left. 

Then there is the matter of historical accuracy which is where this film truly collapses. Sometimes I can forgive this but in other instances it can uproot any potential engagement; it really is subjective and a hard one to critique. In this instance, it's interesting to see a neglected part of history given the big budget treatment and the entertainment factor goes a long way in making this one still worth watching. Sure, you might need to consult some history books afterwards and it might make some wonder what the point in even making a film like this was but it succeeds in the storytelling department as a simple piece of cinema.

The Patriot has a few weak points in the latter half of the film but it functions well as a historical-ish epic that I do not doubt has done well on TV around 4th July. Maybe one day we'll get a film that dares to be more accurate but, if you are not fully informed on this time in history like myself, then there's enough to enjoy here before jumping to iMDB to see where they got it wrong. Perhaps not a glowing endorsement but still one I can recommend.