Since Steven Seagal isn't getting any younger, and in fact is now past 50. He's like Arnold Schwarzenegger, becoming less credible as an action hero. He realizes this, and with The Patriot, he attempts to expand his audience into the family genre.

The problem is, most of his fans want to see him beat up people. And he can barely throw those folks a bone without alienating the 'parents and young child' demographic that he's seeking.

The Patriot can't solve this quandary. As a result, the film opened overseas, and went directly into video into the states. For those who care little about genre and just want to see a good film, you'll need to look elsewhere.

However, The Patriot is only a disaster from a marketing perspective. It's not a bad film. There's good guys, bad guys, and innocents in peril. There's even some suspense, although cynics will not be surprised at which characters exit the film alive.

Seagal does get to beat up a bunch of people, and shoots a couple more. The body count is quite high for an attempted family film, as the plot involves a plague spread by an extremist militia group. Their leader is a middle-aged and overweight good old boy (Gailard Sartain) who spouts nonsense and is supported by loyal, brainwashed, and well-armed militants.

Their comeuppance is inevitable, but most of the running length involves Seagal and his three companions. One is his gorgeous pre-teenage daughter Holly (Camilla Belle), and another is a gorgeous Native American medical student and farmer (Whitney Yellow Robe). The third sidekick is a gregarious old cowboy (L.Q. Jones), who seems to be lifted from an old Hopalong Cassidy matinee feature.

The critic cannot be blamed for speculating whether Belle or Yellow Robe will grace the cover of "Vogue" first, instead of focusing on the predictable story. Amateur screenwriters M. Sussman and John Kingswell do what they can (The Patriot is their own imdb.com credit), but the film is far more perfunctory than profound.

A few unintentionally surreal moments intrude. Seagal beats up a bunch of armed soldiers half his age, and they are apparently so humiliated by this that they then actually assist him thereafter.

Later, helicopters scatter life-saving wildflowers into the wind, instead of going door-to-door with the serum. Too bad for those who don't realize that they need to (or are unable to) get out of the house, retrieve the wildflowers, boil them, and drink them. Provided that someone else doesn't get to the scattered wildflowers first.

A dumb ending to a dumb film. But not a bad film, and completely watchable unless you enter it with the expectation that it will be Under Siege III. (40/100)

k@filmsgraded.com, filmsgraded.com


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: None of the Above
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older