the long and illustrious career of robin williams , which has included both forgettable turns like mrs . doubtfire and flubber , was punctuated with the actor's first academy award in 1998 for his role in good will hunting . it was his first truly dramatic role since 1989's dead poets society , and critical remarks were unanimously positive . his next role , that of a deceased pediatrician in what dreams may come , was unfortunately lackluster . and so , after a six-year stint as a comedic actor , the proof on whether or not williams can cut it in the dramatic league has come down to patch adams . williams is the title character , hunter " patch " adams , sporting scruffy facial hair that falls between the clean-shavenness of dreams and the grotesque hairiness of will hunting . we're introduced to patch as he commits himself to a mental institution because of his suicidal tendancies . it's at the institution , however , that he discovers a latent talent for relating to people . he removes himself from the institution and enrolls at the university of virginia's medical college , where he finds that medical doctrine is a calculating , impersonal trade . his attempts to inject humanity into the profession result in several bouts with expulsion , and the movie climaxes with patch's appearance before the state medical board . the characters are well-defined in an oscar-worthy sense . although the script does not perform well as a narrative -- there's little story to be told outside of patch's skit-length experiences -- the script does go a long way toward building the relationships of characters . at medical school , patch meets up with truman schiff ( daniel london ) , an outsider like himself who relishes patch's zest for humanity . the two instantly become the best of friends , and it's easy to see why . monica potter plays patch's love interest , a young woman who personifies the things that patch hates about medical school . for some reason he's attracted to her , and although it never gets said , the audience understands from an intrinsic point of view . the script -- based on hunter adams' own story -- works well this way . the rest of the cast , bob gunton as the villain professor in particular , is solid . director tom shadyac ( liar liar ) leads us in and out of patch's life in a sound , intentional manner ; combined with williams' presence on screen , the movie rarely becomes boring . patch adams' lack of purpose is its major shortcoming , and for the first ninety minutes out of two hours , there's little feeling of continuity or the passage of time . nevertheless , it's an emotionally moving picture , and patch adams looks to be one of the more memorable of the holiday season . it succeeds at everything it tries , and only fails at the stuff it doesn't try in the first place . by and large there may be another oscar nomination herein for williams , but more importantly , it's entertainment for the entire family .
