Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)+++++
This movie is based on the book "Gesundheit: Good Health is a Laughing Matter" by Hunter Doherty Adams with Maureen Mylander.
Mike Farrell of "M*A*S*H" fame was one of the producers of this movie.
This movie is also based on the true story of Hunter "Patch" Adams.
At the movie's beginning we are taken to the psychiatric ward of a hospital in 1969. We discover here how Hunter Adams (Robin Williams) gets his unique nickname of "Patch" and why he decides to become a medical doctor.
Two years later he goes to medical school where he encounters, among other things, a snobby roommate named Mitch (Philip Seymour Hoffman), a very traditional medical school dean (Bob Gunton), meets a fellow medical student named Truman (Daniel London) who becomes his good friend, and as well meets a stand-offish female medical student Corinne (Monica Potter) who eventually sees his point of view with respect to medicine.
Patch's antics at the hospital where he learns to become a doctor are hilarious. (These antics almost get him kicked out of medical school.) But there is a method to his madness as he wants to humanize medicine. His underlying philosophy is:
"A doctor's mission should be not just to prevent death but also to improve the quality of life [of patients]."
He eventually has a brainstorm of building a free clinic called the "Gesundheit Institute" and to get started he starts a free clinic while still attending medical school.
A tragedy occurs but Patch is able to overcome it.
The movie ends by giving the viewer the following information:
"During the next twelve years, Patch Adams opened a home-based family medical practice and treated more than 15,000 people without payment, malpractice insurance, or formal facilities...construction of the Gesundheit Hospital is currently underway. To date [1998], a waiting list of over 1000 physicians have offered to leave their current practice and join Patch's cause."
All the acting is good but Robin Williams as Patch gives an interesting performance. Even though he delivers sidesplitting humor, I felt that it wasn't over-the-top and is balanced quite well with the inspiring, dramatic, and true story. I was also surprised by Daniel London's excellent performance as Truman, Patch's sidekick. Monica Potter's Corinne character is somewhat one-dimensional but she makes the best of it. Philip S. Hoffman also does a good job as the serious medical student named Mitch.
I also enjoyed the background music. It adds to each scene of the movie.
Some people (including Roger Ebert) don't seem to like this movie. However, according to Amazon's "Theatrical Release Information" (see above), this movie whose budget estimate was $50 million has taken in $194 million worldwide garnering a profit of almost $145 million. So the big question is, "Why don't some people not like this movie." The main reason, I think, is that (believe-it-or-not) some people are satisfied with the traditional medical system as it is today and don't like anything (such as this movie) that criticizes it. Thus, I would not recommend this movie to such traditionalists.
Finally, the DVD (collector's edition) has excellent picture and sound quality. There are a few extras, all of them interesting.
In conclusion, this is an inspiring movie based on a true story that effectively displays Robin Williams' comic and dramatic talents. It is not to be missed!!
(1998; 1 hr,50 min; widescreen)
+++++
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