While Robin Williams was giving his acceptance speach for his Best Supporting Actor Academy Award last year you could tell that he was going to start flexing that Oscar muscle pretty soon. So here comes Patch Adams, an interesting hybrid of a comedy and drama that you just can't help but like.
Robin Williams as Hunter "Patch" Adams
Hunter Adams (Robin Williams, Good Will Hunting,Good Morning Vietnam, et al) was a very disturbed individual. After realizing that he is very depressed and suicidal he admits himself into a mental institution to help cure him of his tendencies. Within the institution he discovers that he has a gift of connecting with people and finds his calling in life... to become a doctor and help people with their problems. So we falsh foward a few years to Medical College of Virginia where Hunter, who has since acquired the nickname Patch, has become a student. Although he is a genious who has little trouble with the academic trial of medical school (he is at the top of his class) and no trouble with his raport with the patients (his dynamic, clownlike persona makes them laugh), he does have major personality conflicts with several people... his first year roommate Mitch (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Boogie Nights,Twister, et al) who hates his ability to ace tests seemingly without studying, Carin (Monica Potter, Con Air) who finds his constant flirtations annoying (at first), and most importantly Dean Walcott (Bob Gunton, The Shawshank Redemption et al) who despises the fact that he wants "us [doctors] to get down on their [the patients] level." It is only because of his genuine knack with people that he makes a friend out of fellow med student Truman (Daniel London) and eventually turn Carin into a friend, or possibly even more.
Patch and his love interest, Carin (Monica Potter)
As Patch's antics continue to piss off Dean Walcott, he begins to make hundreds of friends out of his patients, nurses and fellow students. Sometime during his third year Patch decides to start the Gesundheit! Institute (there really is such a place, in fact they are a worthy non-profit organization worthy of a look so follow this link if you want to know more), a clinic where Patch and his friends treat patients free of charge through "conventional" medicine and Patch unique "laughter is the best medicine" medicine. Eventually Dean Walcott gets tired of Patch's antics and decides to throw him out of medical school even though he is towards the top of his class. Patch figths the dismissal all the way to the Virginia State Board of Medicine where he explains his philosophy and tries to save his desired career.
Patch cheers up a young cancer patient
This really is an excellent movie. It pretty much has a little bit of every type of movie, and a whole lot of comedy with a healthy mix of drama. Probably the reason for that is the fact that it is based on the true story of Hunter "Patch" Adams... and since life is never in one genre, neither is this movie. The acting was very well done, although I didn't think Robin Williams was as good as he has been in movies of the past like Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society, but both of those were almost completely dramatic roles and this one had a healthy dose of what Williams seems to do best, comedy. The suprising performances of Daniel London and Monica Potter (who looks like Julia Roberts' younger sister) helped give the supporting cast high marks in my book. In short, this wasn't necessarily the best movie of the year, and I wouldn't expect it to pick up any major Oscars (although it will probably clean up the Comdey catagories of the Golden Globes), but not every movie needs to be Oscar worthy to be worthy of your time and this one is well worth the two hours it takes out of your day.
