Tentative list of things I think kick ass: Killin’ Nazi Bastards, George C. Scott, tanks, bull terriers, good old fashioned plain talking men, hating Communism. Yep, let’s just get this right out of the way here. Patton kicks large sized portions of my ass. This movie was great.
To clarify, I’m the type of fellow that’s not particularly into biopic pieces. I’m a fiction man. More specifically, I’m a science fiction man. But nothing could matter less here. From Jump Street, Patton grabs you and really never lets go. I know that the opening scene has become an iconic part of our culture, so this isn’t saying much. However, I’ve found that a lot of the revered parts of our culture tend to be overrated anyway. With Patton, this is not the case.
This is one of those difficult films where the goal is to make the audience connect with and even love a character that has some tough traits to fall in love with. Luckily, Franklin Schaffner knew what he was doing. This movie wasn’t about the War. It was about a great man trying to conform in order to preserve his dream. Granted, Patton’s dream was to make himself famous for killing a shitload of dudes. But, nonetheless, the man had vision, and it is impossible to resist respecting him for it, and it’s obvious that Schaffner does.
I may be biased, because I have a massive hard on for Scott, and have since Dr. Strangelove, but this performance is masterful. He captures the true essence of Patton, which is no easy task. The man was revered, hated, mocked, feared, and respected, depending who you talked to and when it was that you talked to them. This is a character with so many different sides to his personality, it would take a master to do him justice on screen, which is exactly what happened.
A great portion of the movie is spent illustrating the differences between Patton and General Omar Bradley, masterfully played by Karl Madden. Bradley was shown to be a reserved and humble man, typically characteristics of someone deserving respect. It’s no different here, however, the restraint that he shows also shows us the mistakes of living a life with no driving passion. Patton’s all or nothing attitude is what ended in success, not the restraint shown by “Monty” and “Brad” on D Day.
In the end, it’s evident that all of the problems that Patton ever had were brought on himself. However, they always came on him because of the same personal characteristics that brought him success in the first place.
But, possibly the best aspect of this film is the sweeping from genre to genre in each new scene. I can’t see how any single movie fan could not love this film. You like interpersonal dramas, and hate war movies? Fine, just be patient through the tank battles, and you’ll shortly be watching a power struggle between two opposing personalities. You want to watch a rise and fall success/failure story? Just hang tight, it’s in there. You love to see shit get blowed up? Done.
Overall, this film can make you think, can make you feel patriotic, can make you tune out and watch shit explode, can take you down a path in history, and all the while was shot beautifully. As opposed to the last war movie I reviewed, Glory, this is a movie well deserving to be on the list of top films ever.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L9FMBbFJZY]
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