Shaft

As both a former military reenactor and a student of American history, I bought my ticket for The Patriot with a combination of interest and trepidation. The movies have rarely done well by the Revolutionary War, or even history in general, and I was unsure that this would be an exception. The idea was interesting; but what would be done with it? Was I about to see another Santa Fe Trail? A Lethal Weapon in period dress? Or would it be, like 1992's The Last of the Mohicans, a fairly accurate and entertaining picture?

Happily, The Patriot succeeds--very well as entertainment, and not too terribly badly as history. Despite an almost three-hour running time, it holds the viewer's interest throughout. While there's enough plot and love interest to provide sufficient change of pace, clearly the true triumphs of this film are the monumental battle set pieces. If you enjoyed Gettysburg, you'll like The Patriot, while if you don't enjoy battles but are dragged to this film anyway, Mel Gibson's performance and considerable personal charisma should prove suitably diverting.

Gibson plays Benjamin Martin, a hero of the French and Indian War turned gentleman planter. A widower with 7 children, Gibson believes America should be free of British rule--but haunted by his wife's death, his responsibilities as a parent and the horrors of the past war, he refuses to fight.

Gibson's son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) is more hot-headed and enlists, at least partly to impress Anne Howard (Lisa Brenner). The war is brought home to Gibson when he shelters his wounded son and soldiers from both sides in the aftermath of a battle. A British cavalry officer, Colonel Tavington, takes Gabriel captive, burns down Gibson's plantation and murders one of his younger sons before his eyes. This drives Gibson to return to his warrior ways, leading Gabriel and a volunteer militia in guerilla hit-and-run attacks on Cornwallis' army. Along the way, Gabriel manages to marry Anne, and Gibson himself has a low-key romance with his dead wife's sister (Joely Richardson).

The supporting cast does well, considering. Rene Auberjonois has a nice bit as a minister-turned-rebel, and Jason Isaacs is nothing less than riveting as the bloodthirsty Tavington. He effectively conveys arrogance and ruthlessness without becoming a Snidely Whiplash caricature. Both Lisa Brenner and Joely Richardson are exciting and beautiful screen presences, but unfortunately are given very little to do but stand around and show off their Colonial-era dresses. This is clearly Mel Gibson's picture, and he carries it well. From his gentleness with his children to his towering rage as he attacks the British to his grief when his son is murdered, Gibson proves again that he's more than just another hunky action star.

As far as the history aspect goes--well, if battle reenactment is your bag, you'll love it. The Martin vs. Tavington battle is rather loosely based on the real-life conflict between rebel leader Daniel Morgan and Col. Banastre "Bloody Ban the Butcher" Tarleton, while Gibson's character also incorporates aspects of Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox" and several other Revolutionary leaders. The battles themselves are stirring, but be warned, they're also horiffically gory. The movie earns its "R" rating--not quite on the level of Saving Private Ryan, but almost. In the Colonial era, armies fought by standing shoulder-to-shoulder in line and firing at one another from about 100 feet away. Often combat wound up in a hand-to-hand battle, using bayonets, swords, tomahawks and whatever else came to hand. The Patriot is accurate in this, and it's all right up there on the screen.

There are nits to pick, if one is so inclined. In a key sequence, Gibson orders his sons to reload his rifles for him. They manage to do so, even though neither one has a powder horn or cartridge box. It's also mildly amusing to note that all the men in the film wear hats, except star Mel Gibson, and all the women in the film wear bonnets, except for stars Joely Richardson and Lisa Brenner--how else would the director get that backlighting on their hair?

The movie is hopelessly politically correct, of course; the accuracy of the characters' attitudes is hardly up to the standards of the costumes and the sets, but that's to be expected. For example, against all likelihood we are informed that all the African-Americans who work Gibson's South Carolina plantation are free blacks; there's not a slave among them. Among Gibson's men are both a token black and a token bigot; it should surprise no one that the former saves the latter's life, after which they become fast friends. Gabriel and Anne's Anglican wedding vows do not include her swearing to "honor, serve and to obey," deviating rather clearly from the Book of Common Prayer of that time. Gibson and his fellow gentleman planters treat their clearly lower-class militiamen like equals, rather than acting like educated gentry addressing rabble. And, in the movie's only cringe-inducing moment, Anne rises during a church service and berates all the men present--including her own father--for not standing up for their ideals. The notion of a 16-year-old girl in the Colonial era even considering such an action is fanciful at best.

Still, movies exist not to educate (although it would be nice if they did), but to entertain. In this simple task, The Patriot succeeds admirably.