Editing The Patriot (2000 film) (section)

==Reception==
===Critical response===
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], ''The Patriot'' holds an approval rating of 62% based on 139 reviews, with an average rating of 6.10/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "''The Patriot'' can be entertaining to watch, but it relies too much on formula and melodrama."<ref name="tomatoes">{{cite web|title= The Patriot (2000) |work=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1098149-patriot/ |access-date=February 16, 2025}}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".<ref>{{cite web |title=The Patriot |url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-patriot |website=[[Metacritic]] |access-date=October 19, 2021 }}</ref> Audiences surveyed by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade "A" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= PATRIOT, THE (2000) A |work= [[CinemaScore]] |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref>

''[[The New York Times]]'' critic [[Elvis Mitchell]] gave the film a generally negative review, although he praised its casting and called Mel Gibson "an astonishing actor", particularly for his "on-screen comfort and expansiveness". He said the film is a "gruesome hybrid, a mix of sentimentality and brutality".<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|last=Mitchell|first=Elvis|author-link=Elvis Mitchell|title=Film Review; A Gentle Farmer Who's Good at Violence|date=June 28, 2000|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/film/062800patriot-film-review.html|access-date=November 20, 2014|url-status=live|archive-date=December 4, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204012801/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/28/movies/film-review-a-gentle-farmer-who-s-good-at-violence.html}}</ref> Jamie Malanowski, also writing in ''The New York Times'', said ''The Patriot'' "will prove to many a satisfying way to spend a summer evening. It's got big battles and wrenching hand-to-hand combat, a courageous but conflicted hero and a dastardly and totally guilt-free villain, thrills, tenderness, sorrow, rage and a little bit of kissing".<ref>{{cite news|last=Malanowski|first=Jamie|title=The Revolutionary War Is Lost on Hollywood|date=July 2, 2000|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/02/movies/film-the-revolutionary-war-is-lost-on-hollywood.html?scp=7&sq |access-date=May 31, 2009}}</ref> In his review of the film, the critic [[Roger Ebert]] wrote, "I enjoyed the strength and conviction of Gibson's performance, the sweep of the battle scenes, and the absurdity of the British caricatures. None of it has much to do with the historical reality of the Revolutionary War, but with such an enormous budget at risk, how could it?"<ref>{{cite web |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=June 28, 2000 |title=The Patriot |url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-patriot-2000 |access-date=January 25, 2024 |website=[[RogerEbert.com]]}}</ref>

===False reviews controversy===
A highly positive review was purportedly written by a critic named [[David Manning (fictitious writer)|David Manning]], who was credited to ''[[The Ridgefield Press]]'', a small [[Connecticut]] weekly news publication. During an investigation into Manning's quotes, ''[[Newsweek]]'' reporter John Horn discovered that the newspaper had never heard of him.<ref name="Newsweek 2001-06-02">{{cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.com/news/581770.asp?cp1=1 |title=The Reviewer Who Wasn't There |last=Horn |first=John |date=June 2, 2001 |website=[[MSNBC]] |publisher=[[Newsweek]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010609225327/http://www.msnbc.com/news/581770.asp?cp1=1 |archive-date=June 9, 2001 |access-date=October 3, 2014 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The story emerged at around the same time as an announcement that Sony had used employees posing as moviegoers in television commercials to praise the film. All of those occurrences raised questions and controversies about ethics in [[film promotion]] practices.

On the June 10, 2001 episode of ''[[Le Show]]'', host [[Harry Shearer]] conducted an in-studio interview with Manning, whose "review" of the film was positive. The voice of Manning was provided by a computer [[voice synthesizer]].<ref name="leShow20010610">{{cite web | url=http://media.harryshearer.com/?ProgramID=128 | last=Shearer | first=Harry | title=le Show | publisher=HarryShearer.com | date=June 10, 2001 | access-date=January 5, 2009 | url-status=dead | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080530051629/http://media.harryshearer.com/?ProgramID=128 | archive-date=May 30, 2008 | df=mdy-all }}</ref>

On August 3, 2005, Sony made an out-of-court settlement and agreed to refund $5 each to dissatisfied customers who saw that and four other films in American theaters as a result of Manning's reviews.<ref name=IENews>{{cite news |url=http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=42&si=1445650&issue_id=12832 |title=Sony to pay $1.5m for film hoax |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071119061913/http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/sony-to-pay-15m-for-film-hoax-243752.html |archive-date=November 19, 2007 |newspaper=[[Irish Independent]] |date=August 5, 2005 |access-date=8 November 2018 |first=Catherine |last=Elsworthin}}</ref>

===Box office===
''The Patriot'' opened in 3,061 venues at #2 with $22,413,710 domestically in its opening weekend, falling slightly short of expectations (predictions had the film opening #1 with roughly $25 million ahead). The film opened behind [[Warner Bros.]]'s ''[[The Perfect Storm (film)|The Perfect Storm]]'', which opened at #1 with $41,325,042.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=96657&page=1|title=George Clooney "Storms" Box Office|website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=2000&wknd=26&p=.htm | title=Weekend Box Office Results for June 30 – July 2, 2000 | work=[[Box Office Mojo]] | date=July 3, 2000 | access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref> The film closed on October 16, 2000, with a domestic total of $113,330,342. It saw a similar level of success in foreign markets, earning $101,964,000 there for a grand total of $215,294,342, against a production budget of $110 million.<ref name=mojo>{{cite web | url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=patriot.htm | title=''The Patriot'' (2000) | work=[[Box Office Mojo]] | date=October 16, 2000 | access-date=December 10, 2016}}</ref>

===Accolades===
''The Patriot'' was nominated for three [[73rd Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]: [[Academy Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]], [[Academy Award for Best Original Score|Best Original Score]], and [[Academy Award for Best Sound|Best Sound]] ([[Kevin O'Connell (sound mixer)|Kevin O'Connell]], [[Greg P. Russell]] and [[Lee Orloff]]).<ref name="Oscars2001">{{cite web |url=http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/73rd-winners.html |title=The 73rd Academy Awards (2001) Nominees and Winners |access-date=November 19, 2011 |work=oscars.org |archive-date=April 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120414130003/http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/73rd-winners.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> It also received several guild awards, including the American Society of Cinematographers award to Caleb Deschanel for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ascmag.com/news/awards/awards_history.php#2000|title=15th Annual ASC Awards – 2000|work=ASC Roster|publisher=American Society of Cinematographers|year=2000|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120506232934/http://www.ascmag.com/news/awards/awards_history.php#2000|archive-date=May 6, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and the Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Award for Best Period Makeup and Best Period Hair Styling.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000327/2001/1/|title=Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards (2001)|website=IMDb}}</ref>