Patty Hearst

1988's PATTY HEARST is a highly frustrating experience, all the more baffling given such a colorful scenario, based on the experiences of Patricia Hearst, granddaughter and heiress of publishing magnate William Randolph.  You may remember (or at least have read) that she was kidnapped by some left wing extremists who called themselves the SLA - Symbionese Liberation Army.  Sometime during her captivity,  following accounts of torture and sexual assault, she decided to join the cause and would accompany her comrades during their bank robberies.  There's that famous photo of Ms. Hearst with a rifle.  So why is director Paul Schrader's film such a misfire?

For one, he didn't write the screenplay.  A shame, as Schrader has penned some of the most fascinating Tortured Soul dramas of the twentieth century and beyond. TAXI DRIVER.  HARDCORE.  RAGING BULL. FIRST REFORMED  Several others.  He directed some of those.  I think Patty Hearst would qualify as a tortured soul, and Nicholas Kazan (whose screenplays include REVERSAL OF FORTUNE but also ENOUGH) does give Natasha Richardson some insightful moments.  Maybe they are ripped directly from Hearst's autobiography, upon which this film is based.

Schrader opens the film with a dissonant title sequence and continues with about a half hour of disorientation.  Heart's limited point of view during the early days of her kidnapping, not seeing and only half hearing the taunts of her kidnappers, led by the charismatic and manipulative Cinque (Ving Rhames, in an early role), who shovels the (ersatz) bleeding heart horseshit like the best of them.  The film begins as an assault, abetted by Michael R. Miller's jagged editing.  Once Patty's blinders are removed, the film plays a bit more traditionally.  It becomes a fairly bland and uninteresting drama of "family" infighting.  The other actors, which include Dana Delany and Frances Fisher, are essentially wasted.

One big dilemma is the skipping of much of Patty's metamorphoses from sheltered trust fund prom queen to urban guerilla.  Or at least her act of such.  How interesting it would have been to expand her voiceover to include more thoughts on the process.  At least I can't accuse the director of sensationalism, as he limits the eventual house roasting of most of the SLA members to a news report seen on T.V.

Richardson does well under the circumstances.  The late scenes, after Hearst's apprehension and trial, work best.  There's a decent sorta monologue at the end.  But PATTY HEARST should've been a stronger, more memorable bio.  Also, beware William Forsythe's scenery chewing as Teko.