Off the Cuff Reviews Patton (1970)

I'm always a little hesitant going into a slightly older movie like this. There are those who campaign for 'the classics', but I'm personally of the opinion that newer films of today refined and perfected what the older films did, and some older movies have dated pretty significantly since their release. I feared Patton (1970) would be one of those movies, yet I wound up having a pretty good time with this one. It did things I didn't expect it to, took itself in a direction which kept me guessing, and I walked away having had a surprisingly great film experience. Starring George C. Scott as General George S. Patton, Karl Malden as Major General Omar N. Bradley, Michael Bates as General Bernard Montgomery and Edward Binns as Lieutenant General Walter Bedell Smith.

Patton (1970)

Right off the bat, I'll address the direction the movie took that I didn't see coming, since everything else is fairly simple stuff to talk about. Given the nature of the time period, and the fact that we're focusing on a US WWII hero, you'd think this would be a war movie. This isn't the case, as it's actually structured a lot more like a political drama. The war stuff is in there, and I'll get to that later, but the movie actually focuses a lot more on Patton as a person than anything he actually did in the war itself. This is a clever approach, since focusing primarily on the war wouldn't lead to all that much tension, since basically everyone knows the outcome to WWII. Putting the attention on the controversy surrounding Patton himself allows for not only a more unique story, but also just functions better as a movie.

Karl Malden as Bradley

Another cool thing the movie does is not treat General Patton as some messianic figure who could do no wrong. I was already to slam this movie for being too patriotic and 'America!' and therefore being incredibly dull, but that's not true. The movie shows the ugly side of General Patton, which is the far more interesting side to focus on. What was the line... "I'm here because I'm trained to be here, you're here because you love it". That's such a compelling line, as is the idea of the soldier being unable to live without a war. I was initially frustrated that the movie didn't show anything from Patton's life before WWII, but that feeds into the 'Without war, he's nothing' angle the movie pushes, which is so much more interesting if we only know him through the war as well. It's nice and meta that way, and when the film eventually does bring it up, you find yourself wholeheartedly agreeing.

Michael Bates as Montgomery

It's not all perfect, however. There's a lot in this movie that I do take issue with. For one thing, the movie takes a long time to really get going. After the opening speech, which I will get back to, the pace of the movie slows to a snails-pace. It's important that the movie take it's time to establish everything, but it does feel like it was a bit gratuitous here. There's an awful lot of establishing shots, maybe too many, and they last way too long. The movie might also have benefited from showing us some of Patton's exploits in battles past; before signing on to the 3rd Army. We never see him in the field, and that's a little important when basically all we see him do in the movie is send other people to their deaths. Additionally, the movie only really has the one music track that plays throughout the movie, and while it is a nice piece of music, and works at certain key moments, it does get repetitive very quickly.

Edward Binns as Smith

The actors are all fine here, and each one serves their purpose well. I do like how the movie does let you see from all points of view; both Patton and those who disagree with Patton. Speaking of Patton, and I've been dancing around talking about this for the entire review, but I've been saving it for last: George C. Scott is absolutely incredible in this role. I could listen to him talk forever. The opening speech is, of course, iconic, but there are so many similar moments like that in the movie. It's Scott's performance that really helps get him on your side by the end, even after some of his harsher moments. You really get a sense of his passion and, really, love for the war, and the fact that he's incredibly well-spoken despite not being great with people makes for an interesting combination; one that I haven't seen often.

George C. Scott as Patton

Patton (1970) ended up being a good time, even though I wouldn't consider it perfect. I certainly think it's worth checking out, and I'd probably see it again. i'd just have to strap myself in for a long one. 8/10.