Highly Overrated But Still Good

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

But for its insubstantial ending, this drama would have had enough to justify its running time. It doesn't have as many action sequences that audiences will have come to expect from a Steven Seagal formula. The story was adequate and plays to a belief system and cultural interest close to Seagal's heart but these hang heavy at times in the story when tension should have been honed. The cinematography of the Montana landscape is beautiful and it keeps the interest because it has good direction, but it was a below par effor when judged from the story end.

The premise starts out good, but falls apart with each passing scene. I found nothing believable about any of it. Segall's acting is flat as usual. Devoid of emotion. His character is laughable as it does not fit his stereotypical character. Nor does his being able to perform special forces maneuvers fit his supposed brainiac character in this film. I am not a Segall fan to start with, but this is lower than his average. He should stick to the paramilitary type characters. And a personal suggestion would be that he find himself a comic relief to play opposite his straight man persona. And for God's sake, yell or laugh or cry once in a while.

What starts off as a very interesting concept ends in one of the most preposterous ways I have ever seen. Essentially, "Dr. Wesley McClaren" (played by Steven Seagal) has retired from a government lab (which concocts deadly viruses and their antidotes) and offers holistic medical services to the people of a nearby Montana town when traditional medicines fail to help them. Nearby there is a militia group led by "Floyd Chisolm" (Gailard Sartain) that decides to release a deadly virus called "Nam-37" into the local population as an act of terrorism. The members of the militia believe that they have the antidote. What they don't realize is that the virus can mutate. When it does everyone becomes infected. Everyone except a few people, most notably Wesley and his daughter "Holly" (Camilla Belle). So while the militia is desperately searching for them, Wesley is busy trying to find a cure for the mutated virus. After this, the movie goes downhill fast. Steven Seagal, Gailard Sartain, L.Q. Jones ("Frank"), Camilla Belle and Whitney Yellow Robe ("Dr. Ann White Cloud") all perform in a fine manner. But again, the ending is completely nonsensical and while holistic medicine may have some benefits, the way this film glorifies it is completely absurd. Obviously, some folks in Hollywood really need to get out more.

this movie may have Steven Seagal in it,but it's not really a Steven Seagal Film.by that i mean it's not a typical Seagal film.and that isn't necessarily a bad thing.in this case it works out OK.there is very little action.only a few brief fight scenes lasting seconds.it' more of a drama/lite thriller.in the vein of Outbreak,but not nearly as exciting.still,it's not boring.i didn't find it preachy myself although i know some people did.so without wall to fight sequences,how does Seagal do when it comes to the acting department?he does alright.he may never win an academy award,but i think he can act on occasion if he has to.for me,The Patriot is a 6/10