PATCH ADAMS (1998) ** Robin Williams is great for these roles involving characters of pure, or at least big, heart. He is the mixture of humor, pathos, and substance called for. Unfortunately it's difficult not to feel manipulated while watching this film, as if the writers have tied up little Hollywood bows on some scenes and created others to increase happy weepy value. As a result it comes off as a self-proclaimed "true story" while lacking even the credibility of decent fiction. If the medical establishment was so desperate to keep Patch from practicing medicine, and had already gone to the trouble of accusing him of practicing medicine without a license, why didn't anyone at the hearing point out that one of his "patients" had committed murder? I'm not sure how far they had to twist reality in order to pull off comedically tinged scenes in the terminal ward, but it just doesn't all ring true. Did they feel that they had to pull their punches in order to appeal to the least common denominator? If so, why didn't they do a comedy about Reagan or the Bushes, after all there is plenty of material.
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