Patriot Movie Review

When the Charleston Assembly votes to join the rebellion, a friend from Benjamin's past, Col. Burwell, tries to recruit him to join the Continental Army. After all, Burwell says, everyone still remembers Benjamin's exploits at Fort Wilderness during that war. But Benjamin wants nothing to do with the looming hostilities. "I have seven children," he says. "My wife is dead. Who's to care for them if I go to war?" But his eldest son, Gabriel, has no such qualms; he defies his father's will and joins the army. You know it's only a matter of time before Benjamin, too, is drawn into the fighting--in this case, courtesy of the cruel British cavalry leader, Col. Tavington.

Positive Elements: The colonists often show true selflessness, joining to fight against near impossible odds in order to secure a better future for their families. Snitches and traitors are clearly shown to be despicable characters. Soldiers risk their lives to save wounded comrades. One of the Martin children offers to have himself executed to save the others. Benjamin is a loving father and a man of prayer. The film displays respect for Christian faith and includes a religious wedding ceremony. In a moment of introspection, Benjamin humanely asks, "Why do men feel they can justify death?" When Col. Tavington executes wounded rivals, he is called to account by Cornwallis who states, "You serve me and the manner in which you serve me reflects upon me" (a great illustration of Christians' need to reflect the character of Christ while performing service in His name). The sin of pride ultimately undoes Cornwallis. Benjamin and Gabriel share a loving father/son relationship and a dedicated professional one. Benjamin shows honor to a black slave by having him represent himself in the enlistment process. A bigot is rescued by the slave-turned-soldier he belittled, and the two develop a friendship based on mutual respect. When Gabriel spends the night at the home of his sweetheart, he is sewn into bed by the girl's mother--a Revolutionary method of preserving modesty and chastity. After witnessing his father's brutal hatcheting of a Redcoat, one of Gibson's younger sons is appalled at Benjamin's vicious lack of self-control. Benjamin carries the scars years after violent heroics that earned him unwarranted celebrity. Benjamin puts himself at risk when he visits Cornwallis to plea for the lives of innocent women and children.

Spiritual Content: There is much Christian imagery throughout the movie, and the Rev. Oliver joins the militia saying, "I'm a shepherd, and someone needs to fend off the wolves." A church is burned down, and amid the smoke and rubble the camera focuses on the cross still standing high above the damage. Frequent quick prayers are said before battle.

Benjamin truly seems vexed by his past. "I have long feared that my sins will come to visit me and that the costs will be more than I can bear," he says at the beginning of the movie, as he's seen packing away his instruments of war. Later in the movie, he says, "Not a day goes by that I don't ask God's forgiveness for what I've done." On a mystical note, two of the younger Martin children point to the North Star and comment that it is their dead mother. "She looks down and protects us forever," one says.

Sexual Content: Ambiguous at best. Gabriel openly courts Anne Howard with her father's permission. When Anne's father frets about the attention the handsome young Gabriel is showing his daughter, her mother makes a remark about how he was worse in his youth, implying that they'd had premarital sex. To the movie's credit, Anne and Gabriel are married in an explicitly Christian ceremony. The widower Benjamin relies on his sister-in-law, Charlotte, to hide his family, but it is implied that they have sex, as she is seen later in the movie carrying a newborn.

Violent Content: A lot of killing done in battle, with explicit scenes of soldiers being mowed down by musket fire and men being bayoneted. A few stand out, however. [Warning: plot point revealed] After ambushing a British patrol that has just killed his son, Benjamin

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