Aimed directly at a mainstream audience; The Patriot qualifies as respectable entertainment; but anyone expecting a definitive drama about the American Revolution should look elsewhere. Rising above the blatant crowd pleasing of Stargate; Independence Day; and Godzilla; director Roland Emmerich crafts a marvelous re-creation of South Carolina in the late 1770s (aided immeasurably by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel); and Robert Rodat's screenplay offers the same balance of epic scale and emotional urgency that elevated his earlier script for Saving Private Ryan. Unfortunately; Emmerich embraces clich?s and hackneyed melodrama that a more gifted director would have avoided. Instead of attempting a truly great film about the most pivotal years of American history; Emmerich settles for a standard revenge plot with the Revolutionary War as an incidental backdrop.

On those terms; the film is engrossing and sufficiently intelligent; especially when militia leader Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) cagily negotiates with British General Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) in one of the most rewarding scenes. For the most part; the story concerns Martin's anguished quest for revenge against ruthless redcoat Colonel Tavington (played with snide relish by Jason Isaacs); and the rise to manhood of Martin's eldest son; Gabriel (Heath Ledger); whose battlefield honor exceeds even that of his brutally volatile father. At its best; The Patriot conveys the horror of war among innocent civilians; and the epic battle scenes; while by no means masterful; are graphically intense and impressive. And although Ledger's love interest (Lisa Brenner) is too bland to register much emotion; the focus on family (which frequently relegates the war to background history) provides a suitable vehicle for Gibson; who matches his achievement in Braveheart with an effectively brooding performance. --Jeff Shannon