Movie Review

The Patriot, directed by Roland Emmerich for Centropolis Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, and SONY Pictures Entertainment, is a stirring account of a little-known campaign of a war that has been largely ignored by Hollywood. It tells the story of Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a South Carolina planter and widower with seven children. His horrific experiences in the French and Indian War make him unwilling to take up arms against the British when South Carolina votes for independence in 1776, though his eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), joins the Continental army. Martin is forced to take sides when the war literally comes into his front yard and British troops harm his family and burn his home. He assumes command of the local militia and becomes the scourge of the British, cutting their supply lines and attacking their outposts. Martin and his men pay a heavy personal price for their patriotism, but they persevere and play a key role in defeating the British army in South Carolina. After Gen. Charles Cornwallis surrenders, Martin and his men return to South Carolina to rebuild in their independent country.	1
This film is a well-told, well-acted, and handsomely photographed historical epic, and accolades must go to Emmerich and Gibson for tackling a subject that is certainly less than familiar to the average summer movie patron. Adding more credibility to the historical accuracy of this film was the participation of historians from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as consultants. The sets and scenery show much attention to historical detail. Colonial Charleston, the plantations, villages, and taverns—all convey an atmosphere of period authenticity. The Fort Carolina set is especially well done; the British built a number of such forts by constructing earthwork and palisade fortifications around plantation houses.	2
However, much of The Patriot is not historically accurate in the interpretation of broad themes or in specific details of the campaign in the South and of warfare in the American Revolution. Gibson acknowledged, "If one were to adhere to historical accuracy all the way, you'd probably have the most boring two hours on earth, but firstly it's entertainment and we've taken license with history to make it more compelling."	3
Mel Gibson's character is a composite of several partisan leaders, most notably Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and Andrew Pickens. Like Marion, Martin makes his headquarters on an island in the middle of a swamp. Both Sumter and Pickens took up arms after their plantations were burned by the British. Aside from those facts, Benjamin Martin has little in common with his real-life counterparts.	4
The most serious deficiency of The Patriot is its almost complete omission of the Loyalists. A significant segment of the population of the Carolinas and Georgia remained loyal, and much of the fighting there was a civil war between Tories and Whigs. Though Loyalist provincial and militia units constituted one-half of the British army in the South, the film portrays only one Loyalist soldier, Captain Wilkins (Adam Baldwin) in Colonel Tavington's (Jason Isaacs) dragoons. Tavington is based on Banastre Tarleton, who commanded the British Legion, a Loyalist provincial regiment. The film gives the impression that Tavington's regiment is British and that Captain Wilkins is the only Loyalist in its ranks. No other Loyalist soldiers appear in The Patriot.	. . .