poster boy for co-dependency needs patchingmediocrity is a pox on civilization . in our heavily consumer oriented society , there is an enormous demand to churn out " stuff . " what would happen to our economy if we didn't feel the need to have more things ? to make us buy more , businesses need to produce a ton of product . the sheer volume of items necessitates that most of them are of dubious quality . the film industry is like any other . in order for studios to survive , they have to make money . the prevailing attitude is that more films equal more profit . some movies obviously exist only to put wares on the screen and to do that , less talented people are used . there aren't enough great directors and actors to create the number of films necessary . for some reason , it's never crossed anyone's mind that the real equation is quality films = more profit . often , mediocre films are more of a pain for the audience than the horrendous ones . at you can have a good time making fun of bad movies . i'm not suggesting that " patch adams " was tossed out just to rake in the bucks . my guess is that someone was asleep at the wheel . it features an accomplished actor and a potentially engrossing story , but it's as dull as could be . hunter " patch " adams' ( robin williams ) desire to become a doctor has an unusual genesis . checking himself into a mental institute after a suicide attempt , he discovers that he can help the other patients by clowning around . patch could be a poster boy for co-dependency . he explains that he likes devoting himself to others because then he doesn't focus on his own problems . he decides that he wants to be a physician , leaves the place and a couple of years later enrolls in the medical college of virginia . as a med student , patch's antics at the school's hospital catch the attention of his soon to be arch-enemy , straight-laced dean walcott ( bob gunton ) . the dean is so opposed to the goofiness that he wants patch kicked out of school although he's one of the top students . he writes in patch's academic file that he shows " excessive happiness . " i walked into the film knowing little about its history and wondered about its odd mechanical pacing . there also seemed to be no reason that it is set in the early seventies . then it struck me . it must be based on a true story . the movie is an adaptation of a book by hunter adams who founded the gesundheit institute , a free clinic . robin williams is an amazing actor . while he is adept at dramatic roles , his forte is over-the-top free spirits . that's what makes his failure here so remarkable . patch is exactly the character he should be best at , yet even the scene where he and another mental patient are battling fierce imaginary squirrels falls flat . something holds him back . most of the rest of the cast is two-dimensional . for a film that champions seeing patients as human beings , it's curious that the ones here are cardboard characters . peter coyote as a man dying of cancer is refreshing because he seems like a real person . unfortunately he's in the film for only about two minutes . the audience is blatantly lead by a ring in its nose from scene to scene . we're not left to our own emotional decisions : we're hit over the head with them . shaved-headed children with cancer , an elderly woman whom patch makes laugh , a beautiful woman who can't love because of her abusive history . when a group of students fix up an old house to use as a clinic in the andy hardy " hey , let's put on a play ! we can use the barn and my mom can make the curtains ! " mode , they laugh and roll around while painting each other . there might as well be giant signs flashing : " feel good now ! " " feel bad now ! " " patch " is a good title for the film . it is a patchwork of every manipulative scene you can think of . the full-of-life student fights stodgy establishment types . there's a touching death . then there's another . the film doesn't trust us to get it the first time . the dean tries to kick patch out and later he tries again . worst of all is the final courtroom bit . scary-looking old men sit in judgment of a man who only wants to help people . the room is packed with patch's supporters . williams makes a supposedly impassioned speech about the humanity of all . it has as much emotion as his earlier statement " humans are the only animal that kills members of its own species " contains truth . most of the blame must be placed with the director tom shadyac and screenwriter steve oedekerk . shadyac also directed the first " ace ventura " movie . oedekerk directed the second one . need i say more ? the real adams is to be admired for his devotion to treating patients as people rather than diseases . the film has a number of worthy messages about the state of the modern medical business with hmos and managed care . the " doctors are not gods " theme will resonate with a number of people , but it's so poorly produced that no one will care . ( michael redman has written this column for over 23 years . after being inundated with y2k information , he thinks that kevin costner's " the postman " might have found a bigger audience had it been released late this year . <a href= " mailto : redman@indepen . com " >redman@indepen . com</a> will reach him . . . probably . ) [this appeared in the 1/8/99 " bloomington independent " , bloomington , indiana . michael redman can be contacted at <a href= " mailto : redman@indepen . com " >redman@indepen . com</a>] -- <a href= " mailto : mailto : redman@indepen . com " >mailto : redman@indepen . com</a> this week's film review at <a href= " http : //www . indepen . com/ " >http : //www . indepen . com/</a> film reviews archive at <a href= " http : //us . imdb . com/m/reviews_by ? michael%20redman " >http : //us . imdb . com/m/reviews_by ? michael%20redman</a> 
