jasarthur Review of The English Patient

The English Patient (1996)

One of the most hyped-up and over-rated movies of all time.

[5/10 · 27 September 2008]

5 out of 10. That's what I give this really dull film about some very self-centered and self-serving characters. And why a 5? Because it was well filmed and well acted. But the story was totally out of some writer's imagination, loosely based on true events in pre-WWII Africa. When it got to the point that Count Almasy traded maps of northern Africa to the Germans for an airplane to recover his lover's corpse, I just sat there saying, "Sheesh...he was a () traitor!" over and over to myself in near disbelief. He didn't have much hero status to begin with, but that totally killed it for me. Then in the special features, we are told by a history professor that the real Count was actually on Rommel's staff. A bloody Nazi! This movie romanticizes an enemy of democracy and wins 9 Academy awards?? That's insane. Remind me never to trust anything that the Academy says or does ever again.