8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Patchily brilliant, July 23, 2000
"Patty Hearst"'s title is about as self-explanatory as they come. Natasha Richardson (Vanessa Redgrave's elder daughter) plays the eponymous, uhhh, heroine, kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army (don't even ask...) and eventually brought round to the point of joining them on a bank robbery.
The second half of the film, in which Patty and the gang are on the run from the cops, is exciting enough in its way. Schrader's trademark willingness to explore what many people would regard as total amorality enables him to make us care for this raggle-taggle bunch of outlaws, as one after another they're arrested, gunned down or burned. Richardson herself is very good as Patty, having to run the gamut from spoiled heiress via terrified captive to bitterly experienced convict.
It's the first half, though, that makes the second half work. Patty's captivity is rendered in a dark, surreal, almost theatrical way; we are locked in a room with her for much of the first half an hour, experiencing her captors only as black silhouettes against white light. The stylisation that worked so well on Schrader's "Mishima" is here employed to other ends, and suprisingly successfully. If the earlier portions of "Patty Hearst" weren't so good, the later part wouldn't carry the charge that it has; Patty's wish to join the SLA only makes sense in terms of the extreme experience she's been through.
The real Patty Hearst went on to act in a John Waters movie, which must make Schrader wince whenever he thinks of it. This is, by virtue of the subject matter, somewhere between drama-documentary, art film and chase flick, and some of the genre trappings hold it back a bit, but few directors would have this kind of understanding of where he wanted an audience to go. 3 stars if only because this is one of the less distinguished films in an illustrious career. But 3 stars for Schrader are worth five for the vast majority of directors. (Note to Amazon: need more stars!)
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Please give us a Region 1 DVD, March 19, 2009
This is the film that made me a fan of both Natasha Richardson, and Paul Schrader. I love the Storys progression, and how the views of Patty's kidnappers change from frighting creatures to just ordinary people - wishing they could be extraordinary and change the world - and in this case go about it in a most outlandish way.
It is not only taking part in viewing Patty's transformation while in captivity, but viewing the mores of this subculture/cult, and day to day living is fascinating.
Now that Ms. Richardson has just died at such a young age, it saddens me that the majority of Americans will never get to see this amazing performance because someone with the rights somewhere doesn't want to release it for us on DVD. Some online movie rental services allow you to watch the film streamed to your computer, but it is the pan and scan "video" version we get to see, not the quality we are used to viewing today. But it is worth adding to you movie collection even if it is just the VHS copy.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Paul Schrader's best film, April 6, 2005
This movie is hard to take at times. The first part of the movie puts you right inside Patty's head which isn't a nice place to be. The movie asks some really hard qestions like what would I have done if I was Patty? How far is to far to take your beliefs?
Over all the movie is a good one. But if you are looking for some cheap made for TV movie of the week skip this one. If you are looking for a thought provoking, well acted movie this is the one for you.
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