- Directed by Dean Semler
- July 10, 1998 (Worldwide) / February 6, 1999 (US)
- Loosely based on the 1974 novel The Last Canadian by William C. Heine
A former immunologist races against time to find a cure for a viral outbreak caused by a local militia leader.
Steven Seagal in a poorly handled environmentally themed modern Western? Sure. Sometimes I’m game for anything. Sometimes a glutton for punishment. I’m not looking for intelligence when I watch a Seagal movie. I’m looking for guilty pleasure or something so bad that I find myself laughing at it. And The Patriot accomplishes that with unintended comedy.
How? Well Steven Seagal plays our hero Dr. Wesley McClaren who faces off against Gailard Sartain as racist militia leader Floyd Chisholm. Who is Gailard Sartain? Why he performed in Hee Haw and several Ernest films. Not talking smack on the guy but he is the absolutely last person I would cast as the main baddie in anything. That is unless he offered up the recipe for eggs erroneous to me.
In an act to do something (not really sure what his goal is other than chaos) he infects himself with a lethal virus. Typhoid Marty thinks he has the cure, but it only slows the disease down because the virus mutated. So we get the moderately hefty Seagal spouting medical jargon and New Age medical sounding mumbo jumbo while solving all issues with his slap fighting nonsense and delivering dialogue in a barely discernable above average near monotone whisper. This sounds like a bad rip-off of The Stand but with a Randall Flagg that likes a good meal.
It seems rather stupid to start antagonizing the crazy guy with the guns but that is exactly what McClaren does before he has any idea of what is going on. Quite possibly the worst move you can do until you have the upper hand. But Steven Seagal movies are all about him having a figurative sword fight and winning and not necessarily his character being smart.
This tries to be very serious and thoughtful but this is a Steven Seagal movie. There are brief bits on environmentalism, biological weapons, the treatment of Native Americans by the US government, being a single parent, and heavy-handed commentary about the pharmaceutical industry.
The whole concept is about connecting to nature and all the answers to all the medical needs in the world can be found in nature. And all delivered through a Steven Seagal vehicle. I hate to poo poo on anyone’s parade but there’s a reason modern medicine works better than a couple herbs you go and find in the countryside. And what’s the answer to this disease that is quickly spreading through the population? Tea. Specifically it is a tea made from a local wildflower. How does this tea fight the disease? Because science! They do not even try to bulls**t a reason. It just does.
And of course Steven Seagal would have to get a hot young love interest in this movie who’s also a very capable scientist. Not as capable as Steven but nobody is that awesome. I really cannot say anything about her other than he out Native Americans this Native American woman and she took it like “Thank you pudgy White Savior!” And that is not really about her anyway.
This is weirdly entertaining for all the wrong reasons. And because of that I feel slightly less ashamed watching this movie than I have other Steven Seagal offerings. It clearly has the sheen of his work from his glory days but there are elements of the laziness and general poor quality of his newer stuff. I think this is quite possibly where his career truly turned into whatever it is now.
As Steven Seagal offerings go The Patriot is better than others. Certainly no classic that you need to look for but nothing that you will regret watching if you stumble across it.
Warren Watched A Movie 