| |
| | calendarlive.com: MOVIE REVIEW - Patch Adams |
 | | The moment of truth in Tom Shadyac's "Patch Adams," the moment that will test audience willingness to suspend disbelief, comes at about the midpoint of the movie when a man writhing in agony with pancreatic cancer is made to laugh by a doctor acting like a clown. |
 | | In his book, the real Patch Adams told how his experiences as a mental patient led him to the therapeutic benefits of laughter, how his application of humor to treatment got him in trouble with medical authorities, and how he began creating his free clinic, the Gesundheit Institute, where illness is combated with humanism. |
 | | "Patch Adams" is built on the assumption that administrators are fed ice water intravenously, and that medical students smile at the risk of lowering their grade-point average. |
| www.calendarlive.com /movies/reviews/cl-movie981225-7,2,1443982.story (737 words) |
|