Patch Adams (1998)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

Tom Shadyac

Writers (WGA):

Patch Adams (book) and
Maureen Mylander (book) ...

Release Date:

25 December 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

Based On A True Story.

Plot:

A medical student in the 70's that treated patients, illegally, using humor.

Plot Keywords:

Medical | Doctor | Hospital | Student | Nurse

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 6 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Nov. 14

12:00 PM

MyNetwork

Cast

Robin Williams	...	Patch Adams
Daniel London	...	Truman
Monica Potter	...	Carin
Philip Seymour Hoffman	...	Mitch
Bob Gunton	...	Dean Walcott
Josef Sommer	...	Dr. Eaton
Irma P. Hall	...	Joletta
Frances Lee McCain	...	Judy
Harve Presnell	...	Dean Anderson
Daniella Kuhn	...	Adelane
Peter Coyote	...	Bill Davis
James Greene	...	Bile
Michael Jeter	...	Rudy
Harold Gould	...	Arthur Mendelson
Bruce Bohne	...	Trevor Beene

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some strong language and crude humor.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Philippines:G | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Germany:6 (w) | Netherlands:AL | Norway:7 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Asheville, North Carolina, USA

Company:

Blue Wolf

Trivia:

One of the film's producers, Mike Farrell, met the real Patch Adams when Adams served as an advisor to the TV series "M*A*S*H" (1972), in which Farrell played, B.J. Hunnicutt, one of the Army doctors.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: At the Gesundheit Institute, one of the patients is watching the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup (1933). But the audio track doesn't match the portion of the film shown on the television screen.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Hunter Patch Adams: All of life is a coming home. Salesmen, secretaries, coal miners, beekeepers, sword swallowers, all of us. All the restless hearts of the world, all trying to find a way home. It's hard to describe what I felt like then. Picture yourself walking for days in the driving snow; you don't even know you're walking in circles. The heaviness of your legs in the drifts, your shouts disappearing into the wind. How small you can feel, and how far away home can be.
Hunter Patch Adams: Home. The dictionary defines it as both a place of origin and a goal or destination. And the storm? The storm was all in my mind. Or as the poet Dante put it: In the middle of the journey of my life, I found myself in a dark wood, for I had lost the right path. Eventually I would find the right path, but in the most unlikely place.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Will & Grace: Partners (#7.14)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Into the Mystic

Robin Williams:The Best Medicine

In my opinion,Robin Williams is at his best when playing characters much like himself.This film is based on the life of the real Hunter "Patch" Adams,a man that Williams himself says that he closely relates to.In the medical profession,it is easy to become hard nosed and so wrapped up in treating the sickness that it is all too easy to forget that there are actual people behind the sickness.We are taught by Patch to treat the person first,because when you do so,treating the illness becomes somewhat easier.Sometimes people don't get better,but treating the soul to a laugh or two can lessen the pain and suffering.Sometimes people die,and while the people that loved them suffer and grieve,the suffering and grief are eased somewhat by the knowledge that their departed loved ones no longer suffer.This role was tailor made for Williams,and he is supported well,including another overlooked performance by the late Michael Jeter as a squirrel fearing mental patient.Thumbs up!