Thursday, March 29, 2007

The Patriot

When I first checked out Turner Classic's 31 Days of Oscar lineup, I was surprised to see The Patriot listed. I'd never seen it because it looked pretty generic, but the fact that it'd been nominated for three oscars made me think I might've missed something.

But what I should've noticed was that the nominations were for sound, cinematography, and score, which were all quite good here. The plot? The only thing unexpected about it was how eerily close it was to what I was expecting. I assumed we'd get the old warrior who's seen too much blood in his day and wants to settle down with his family, but doesn't quite fit in as a farmer. I figured the British would make the tragic mistake of making the conflict personal for him, which forces him into the fight. I guessed that we'd get a series of scenes as they assemble their rag tag group of warriors ready to take on a better trained, better equipped opponent, and only their plucky spirit and unconventional tactics lead them to victory. It felt like a dozen different epic/action movies thrown into a blender and set during the revolution.

That's not to say it doesn't have some good qualities. There were some well-choreographed fight scenes, Chris Cooper and Rene Auberjonois are pretty much good in everything they do, and it was certainly a nice looking movie. Plus, it's always funny when actors have to look serious when they're wearing those goofy triangular hats (pictured).

My initial reaction to the trailers a few years back was that it didn't look especially good or bad, and I felt no motivation to see or avoid it. And after seeing it, I remain apathetic towards it.

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