"Funner" With Frank

I watched THE PATRIOT for the first time yesterday. This 2000 Revolutionary War drama focuses on Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a South Carolina farmer and would be furniture maker. He’s a widower raising seven kids, including two teenage boys who are anxious to enlist in the Continental army.

Martin forbids their going to war because of a dark incident in his past. He’s suffering from a type of PTSD and is determined to never engage in combat again.

But when the evil British take one son’s life, Martin is pressed into action. He assembles a ragtag militia force of guerilla fighters who begin harrying the British troops. The hit and run tactics that Martin employs earn him the name of “the Ghost”.

But eventually, enough is enough for the British forces. Under orders from General Cornwallis, Martin and his men’s families become targets for death. When his oldset son (well played by a young Heath Ledger), is killed, Martin literally takes up the flag and leads his men and a contingent of regular Army troops into a final, cataclysmic battle.

Handsomely mounted and filmed entirely on location in South Carolina, THE PATRIOT brings a new approach to Revolutinay War films. Oh, sure, it hits all of the predictable plot points but it’s an interesting attempt to show that PTSD was a real and dangerous thing even more than 200 years ago. The action scenes are effective, and Gibson seems to be channeling his Braveheart persona in the epic, final battle scene.

Director Roland Emmerich does a fine job here redeeming himself for the two god awful science fiction films INDEPENCE DAY (1996) and GODZILLA (1998). Gibson is solid as usual and there’s a fine supporting cast. Action scenes are swift and brutal and the finale is a bonafide flag waver.

Recommended.