DVD Review:Patch Adams(Collector's Edition)

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The Movie:

Patch Adams
Universal Pictures
Robin Williams
Rated PG-13

"Patch Adams" is the true story of doctor Hunter "Patch" Adams, a doctor who believed(and still does) believe in the use of humor to cure his patients. The film though, takes the rather conventional route of showing Patch as the one "fun" guy who stands up to the strict dean at the local medical college. After being a patient at a mental hospital himself and finding that he could simply cure people through laughter, he figures why not become a doctor himself.

The movie has its moments, but the brand of a comedy/drama mix that it's trying to attain would have worked better under a different director. I have no problem with Tom Shadyac("Ace Ventura")'s work, but I just don't think he handles the drama right. This film has no concept of the meaning of "subtle". When it tries to have an emotional moment, it hits you over the head. I'm suprised the film didn't hold up cards that say "CRY!" or "LAUGH!". In other words, it all just feels forced and overblown. Even the cold dean, played by Bob Gunton, feels overplayed. Robin Williams plays Robin Williams fine, but the only person who plays their character grounded in some level of reality seems to be Monica Potter, who turns in a lovely performance as the girl Patch falls in love with.

"Patch Adams" isn't the worst way to spend a couple hours. Robin Williams does fine, it's just that the film tries far too hard to force the desired emotions from the audience.
THE DVD:
VIDEO QUALITY: A pretty enjoyable anamorphic 2.35:1 transfer, although it has a couple instances of flaws. Colors are vibrant, but they seem just the slightest bit oversaturated at times. The image though, is clear, crisp and always sharp. Indoor scenes look accurately bright, outdoor scenes look lovely and even the shots at evening look nicely defined. There are a few small problems with artifacts- mainly an amount of aliasing that I found noticeable. Contrast levels are enjoyably accurate, and flesh tones are presented well too. Black level in the image is good, and shadow detail is nice as well. Universal has done a very nice job here. It's not their best transfer, but it's certainly not a dissapointing one. Talking more about the image, it's interesting to see why Shadyac chose the 2.35:1 ratio for this drama that's rather small in scope. It gives the image additional details- we can see everything going on the hospital's halls and I think the cinematographer did a nice job filling the 2.35:1 frame and making images interesting, and still managing to keep our focus on the actors. Again, it's a good transfer, but it's not quite as pure and filmlike as, for example, the job that Paramount did on their transfer of A Simple Plan.

SOUND: Mainly dialogue, but the surrounds occasionally are used to provide details of the outdoor environment. Dialogue sounds clear and natural- very easily understood. The score sounds alright, not as full and pure as I would have liked. The audio can not be switched from the remote which is annoying- in other words, you can't use the remote to switch from the film's audio the commentary mid-film, you have to go to the menu.

MENUS: Lovely animated main menus that have various scenes playing and some animation when you make a choice. The sub-menus are mostly animated in one way or another, or at least have the score playing in the background. Scene selection is animated, which is always nice.

EXTRAS: Commentary: The commentary by director Tom Shadyac is quite interesting. This is one of those commentaries where I didn't care for the movie, but when you sort of "see it through the eyes" of the director, it begins to slightly be redeemed. Maybe he just talks well, but I at least began to understand more the choices that he was trying for. Shadyac doesn't talk about simply what's on screen, he talks about the layers behind what we're seeing, which is always appreciated. There's some technical details thrown in, such as how they achieved the opening shot walking through the bus, or a few effects that were added in. Shadyac is energetic about the commentary, which is enjoyable as well. There are some filmmakers who feel as if they've been forced to talk. Also, there aren't many pauses in the presentation by Shadyac, either- he talks non-stop throughout. He also talks about shooting the movie in anamorphic, which is really interesting to hear about- it also means that the pan/scan version of this film is going to be missing a lot of information. A few very funny moments during the commentary also lighten up the experience of watching the film.

Outtakes:A few very funny moments of outtakes from the film.

Documentary: "The Medicinal Value Of Laughter": A very funny and interesting documentary on the original "Patch Adams", looking at interviews from the real Patch Adams and scenes from the film. There are also interviews from the cast and crew on how they brought this story to screen. The interview segments with the real Patch were interesting enough so that I wish that Universal could have included a commentary track with him on this disc as well; it would have been interesting to hear his views on how the filmmakers brought his life to screen. It's not the most detailed commentary; it's the usual interview, clip, interview, clip version of a documentary that we see, but I think the viewpoints and concepts that are presented by the people who are interviewed add a nice additional layer to the experience of viewing the film- hearing about the history of the project. You can also choose the isolated score while watching this documentary, as well. The documentary runs about 16 minutes.

ALSO: The trailer, production notes, cast/crew bios

GRADES:
The Film: 70/C = (350/500 possible points)
Video: 90/A = (360/400 possible points)
Audio: 89/B+ = (356/400 possible points)
Extras: 89/B+ = (267/300 possible points)
Menus: 91/A- = (182/200 possible points)
Value: 87/B = (261/300 possible points)
Presentation:89/B+ = (89/100 possible points)

TOTAL POINTS:1865/2200
Overall:84.77%/B
Final Thoughts: Enjoyable audio and video, but not much in the way of extras for the $34.98 price tag. The film is just fair.

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DVD Information

Patch Adams
Universal Home Video
2.35:1/ Dolby Digital 5.0
Captions:English
115 Minutes
Dual Layer:Yes
Rated:PG-13(crude humor, language)
Chapters:18
Anamorphic:Yes
Region:1

ALSO AVAILABLE:
CD Soundtrack:Patch Adams
Gesundheit!:Bringing Good Health to You, the Medical System, and Society Through Physician Service, Complementary Therapies, Humor, and Joy(A Book By Patch Adams)
Patch Adams:Collector's Edition DVD
Patch Adams:Full-Frame, Movie Only DVD