Staving off suicidal thoughts, Hunter Adams commits himself into a psychiatric ward, where he not only garners the nickname "Patch," but learns the joy in helping others. To this end, he decides to go to medical school, where he clashes with the staid conventions of the establishment as he attempts to inject humor and humanity into his treatment of the patients ("We need to start treating the patient as well as the disease," he declares throughout the film). Robin Williams, in the title role, is as charming as ever, although someone should tell him to broaden his range--the ever-cheerful do-gooder à la Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society is getting a little old. His sidekick Truman (Daniel London) steals the show with his gawky allure and eyebrows that threaten to overtake his lean face--he seems more real, which is odd considering that Patch Adams does exist and this film is based on his life. Monica Potter is the coolly reluctant love interest, and she makes the most of her one-dimensional part. While moments of true heartfelt emotion do come through, the major flaw of this film is that the good guys are just so gosh-darn good and the bad ones are just big meanies with no character development. Patch Adams, though, does provide the tears, the giggles, and the kooky folks who will keep you smiling at the end. --Jenny Brown

From The New Yorker
Embarrassing rubbish about a medical student (Robin Williams) who rebels against med-school routines and cuts a hole in red enema bulbs and places them on his nose in order to cheer up patients, including young children with cancer. The clowning is alleged to make a serious difference in the patients' health. Written by Steve Oedekerk and directed by Tom Shadyac (both onetime Jim Carrey collaborators), this shameless piece of sentimentality is indignantly on the side of feelings and spontaneity and against coldhearted technique, as if those were the only two choices in training doctors. Based on a memoir by Hunter Doherty Adams, a genuine doctor who, an end title informs us, runs an organization in West Virginia, devoted to free treatment and loving care, called the Gesundheit Institute. -David Denby
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