Movie Review: Patton
I saw this based on the recommendation of my favorite movie critic, James Berardinelli, over at his reelviews site. This is listed as his number one favorite film. Since he and I have similar tastes, I thought I'd give the film a chance. The film was well received when it came out. It won seven Academy Awards in 1970, including best picture.
While I can perhaps understand why the film is so well loved by people like Berardinelli, I feel that the film's flaws ultimately mar the viewing experience from being either entertaining or intellectually stimulating. This film has not aged well.
George C. Scott does a fine job as the general, but his performance is weighed down by self-conscious dialog. Rather than organic, the dialog feels sterile and contrived. Much of the time it was obvious that the purpose of much of the dialog was to put in a humorous quip attributed to the famous general, rather than to reach any sort of understanding of the man's complex character.
Because of this general feeling of separation between the film and its subject matter, very little sympathy is generated for the General and his problems. This shouldn't be the case in a dramatic biopic such as this.
Despite the problems of the film, it does succeed in several instances. The opening sequence, where Patton gives his speech before a giant star spangled banner is perhaps one of the most iconic images in American film (not to mention having been parodied a countless number of times). The scene in the medical tent where Patton slaps a scared soldier senseless was also well done in that it helped to show a perspective of the event not often shared by history books or the public.
Patton isn't a bad movie, it's just not a great one. Certainly if you have an interest in the general then this film may interest you, but I'd be hard pressed to recommend it to anyone else.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L9FMBbFJZY]