Patch Adams (1998) on Netflix
PG-1319981h 55mBiographyComedyDrama
In 1969, after suicidal thoughts, Hunter "Patch" Adams enters a mental institution, where humor helps the other patients. Two years later he is the oldest in his medical school class.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.9/10131,491 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes22%
Trailer
Plot summary
In a mental institution in 1969, Hunter "Patch" Adams finds that humor reaches the other patients better than the doctors' talk therapy, and the discovery gives him a purpose: he wants to become a physician. He leaves, and two years later enters the Medical College of Virginia, the oldest student in his first-year class. Patch objects to a school that keeps students away from patients until their third year, and Dean Walcott dislikes his methods. He believes treating the person matters as much as treating the disease. He befriends Carin Fisher, a fellow student, and works out his idea for a clinic built on humor and compassion.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Patch Adams (1998)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- The real Patch Adams said Robin Williams was paid $21 million for four months of playing a simplistic version of him, and did not give $10 to his free hospital; Adams said he would have given all $21 million to a free hospital in a country where 80 million cannot get care.
- The real Patch Adams, whose life the film is loosely based on, was openly critical of the film, saying it sacrificed much of his message to make a film that would sell and showed him as merely a funny doctor; he told critic Roger Ebert, "I hate that movie."
- Patch Adams beat out Michael to score the highest Christmas opening weekend at the box office, and held that record until Cast Away took it in 2000.
