The Patriot (2000)/###/*** In response to British atrocities, a war hero reluctantly joins in the American Revolution. [Dir: Roland Emmerich/ Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger, Joely Richardson/ 164min/ Action-War/ American Revolution]

This is first and foremost a film about family loyalty and about war per se, and only secondarily one about the American Revolutionary War. Nonetheless, there are so few films that even touch upon the American Revolution that it will still be of interest to libertarians.

At the center of this story is Benjamin Martin, a widower, a South Carolina farmer, and a caring father of seven children. It's 1776, and the war for independence from Britain has just begun. Martin is reluctant to join the conflict as he remembers too well his own (as it turns out bloody and morally questionable) experience in the earlier French & Indian War.

Even so, he can't stop his idealistic eldest son from signing up with the rebel forces. Martin's loyalty to his son soon draws him into the war as well. In particular, when his son is captured and is about to be unjustly executed by a vicious, Nazi-like British colonel named Tavington, Martin gets his guns from home and intervenes. (Incidentally, not only do Martin's guns not have child safety locks, his ten year-old sons do some of the shooting to help free their brother.) In the course of freeing his eldest son, Martin is suddenly transformed from a gentle family man into a blood-soaked warrior from hell. From then on, he's fully engaged in fighting the British and in responding to Tavington's relentless atrocities. And, of course, the Colonists ultimately win.

Throughout all this, Martin's primary motivations are paternal. That is, at first he refuses to fight because he wants to take care of his family. Then he changes his mind and fights in order to save his son. And finally he fights to avenge and give meaning to his son's death. These motivations are all sympathetic, but they aren't the reasons that the American Revolutionary War is uniquely important. What makes this war different, what makes it of interest to libertarians, is that it was much more than just a war against something bad; it was a war for individual liberty, the linchpin of progress and human happiness. Unfortunately, that underlying philosophical basis for the war is touched on only briefly.

As entertainment, this is a sometimes exciting and moving war-drama. If it weren't for the high level of graphic gore (including lots of bloody hatcheting and the sight of soldiers' limbs being torn off by cannonballs), it could even pass for a family film, with considerable feel-good type content (love interests, racial integration). It's a bit on the long side at nearly three hours, but the time goes by surprisingly fast. Production values are very high and it's clear that a great effort was made to achieve historical accuracy in small details.

The main characters are loosely based on actual combatants from the war. And indeed atrocities of the kind portrayed really were committed, though, in fairness to the British, they were committed not just by British soldiers but by Colonists as well.

I was disappointed that there wasn't more explanation in this film as to what the Revolution was about. Watching this, one might assume that it was just a fight over the malicious behavior of a few. Nonetheless, I think libertarians will still get something out of this rare cinematic salute to the Revolution, in part just for the reminder of the kind of sacrifice that went into winning it. In other respects, this film is everything you'd expect--Mel Gibson, flag-waving, moral righteousness, and lots of carnage. The carnage aside, I enjoyed it.

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Miss Liberty's Guide to Film & Video: Movies for the Libertarian Millennium.