History YMMV / PatchAdams

-->'''Patch:''' "Why am I such a threat to you?"
-->'''The Dean:''' "Because what you want for us is to get down on the same level as our patients!"

-->"Our job is improving the quality of life, not just delaying death."

** Patch asks what happens when a doctor becomes emotionally involved with a patient and sarcastically thinks they might explode? [[spoiler:He finds out when his girlfriend is shot by a psychotic patient.]] What makes this worse is that [[spoiler:the killer's mental instability ''could'' have been detected had Adams run a background check.]] ''Like a doctor is supposed to do''.
** Every single scene where Patch contemplates suicide is incredibly difficult to watch now that his actor, Creator/RobinWilliams, has committed suicide himself. It's also a lot more unsettling with his line "what's wrong with death, sir?"

* RetroactiveRecognition: During [[spoiler:Carin]]'s funeral, Creator/GregSestero i.e. Mark from ''Film/TheRoom'' appears as an extra. Oh hai, Mark!

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Patch making the swimming pool of noodles and swimming in it with the old lady.

** Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman actually considered it intentional his character be something of a StrawmanHasAPoint in order to address those counter issues. At one point, he accuses Patch of cheating, citing things such as his unprofessional attitude towards everything (including ''studying'') and somehow having the highest grades in class. This was infuriating to him as a person because he was studying his ass off to learn medicine and wanted his patients to respect that, not expecting him to be a kindergarten teacher.

* DesignatedHero: Besides acting like a general {{Jerkass}} to his schoolmates in an attempt to make them laugh, Patch also does several extremely ethically questionable actions, like stealing drugs from a hospital and practicing without a license. Patch's own sense of humor can also come across as offensive to those he's supposed to help, such as making jokes at the expense of a catatonic schizophrenic or making the university door resemble a giant woman's vagina in preparation for visiting gynaecologists. He still gets treated as in the right, even when [[spoiler:it ends up killing two people]], and the only people who call him out for his actions are treated as humorless villains. Needless to say, the real-life Hunter Adams did no such thing.

* DontShootTheMessage: Many of the film's fiercest critics are those who believe in new forms of medical treatment and agree with Patch that patients should be treated as more than sicknesses to be cured and there should be services for those without insurance, but detest the immature way these messages are conveyed.

** Creator/PhilipSeymourHoffman playing his roommate, as both would die before their time in the same year.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Patch asks what happens when a doctor becomes emotionally involved with a patient and sarcastically thinks they might explode? [[spoiler:He finds out when his girlfriend is shot by a psychotic patient.]] What makes this worse is that [[spoiler:the killer's mental instability ''could'' have been detected had Adams run a background check.]] ''Like a doctor is supposed to do''.

* TheyCopiedItSoItSucks: Instead of trying to be a faithful depiction of Hunter Adams' life and career, the film seems focused on repurposing ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'', [[RecycledInSpace with doctors]]: both movies center around an "inspiring" rebel played by Creator/RobinWilliams who shakes things up in an establishment run by a no-fun-allowed authority figure, in both movies Williams' protagonist forms a group of academics that follow his example, in both films a character important to him dies tragically, and the scene with the ill children wearing clown noses can be seen as the equivalent of the "Captain My Captain" scene from ''Dead Poets Society''. The fact that Patch even reads a poem during [[spoiler:Carin's funeral]] is just the icing on the cake.

* CriticProof: There appears to be an incredible amount of hate directed towards this movie (featuring only a 23% on Wesbite/RottenTomatoes), but it was a financial success. Since Williams' tragic death in 2014, the film is often mentioned among many common moviegoers' favorite roles for him. Granted, it is likely [[JustHereForGodzilla just because of Robin Williams]] and not the movie itself.

* CriticProof: There appears to be an incredible amount of hate directed towards this movie (featuring only a 23% on Rotten Tomatoes), but it was a financial success. Since Williams' tragic death in 2014, the film is often mentioned among many common moviegoers' favorite roles for him. Granted, it is likely [[JustHereForGodzilla just because of Robin Williams]] and not the movie itself.

* RetroactiveRecognition: During [[spoiler:Carin]]'s funeral, Greg Sestero i.e. Mark from ''Film/TheRoom'' appears as an extra. Oh hai, Mark!

* CriticalResearchFailure: During his SmiteMeOMightySmiter moment, Patch tells Truman that [[ApeShallNeverKillApe man is the only animal who kills its own kind]]. The praying mantis[[note]][[RealityIsUnrealistic Though not to the same extent you probably think.]][[/note]], black widow spider[[note]]Also not to the extent you probably think[[/note]], betta fish, chimpanzee, dolphin, lion, rabbit, deer, and the vast majority of the animal kingdom would all like a word with you, Mr. Adams. As pointed out in the ApeShallNeverKillApe page, humans are far from unique among animals at killing their own kind. They are, however, unique in being the only ones who even sometimes feel bad about it.

* WhatAnIdiot: [[spoiler:Carin]] brings their own death on their own person, via being stupid enough to [[spoiler: drive all the way to the house of a patient that is ''obviously'' unstable, without bothering to call the police or tell anyone to come with her as support]]. Naturally, they get shot to death for the trouble.

** At one point when Patch is entertaining terminally-ill children, he pretends to be a CloudCuckoolander doctor who is about to perform surgery: "My name is Doctor... ''[checks badge]'' ... [[Series/DoctorPhil Phil.]]"

* CriticalResearchFailure: During his SmiteMeOMightySmiter moment, Patch tells Truman that [[ApeShallNeverKillApe man is the only animal who kills its own kind]]. The praying mantis[[note]][[RealityIsUnrealistic Though not to the same extent you probably think.]][[/note]], black widow spider[[note]]Also not to the extent you probably think[[/note]], betta fish, chimpanzee, dolphin, lion, rabbit, deer, and the vast majority of the animal kingdom would all like a word with you, Mr. Adams. As pointed out in the ApeShallNeverKillApe page, humans are really just the only animal that can kill its own kind and actually feel bad about it.

* TheyCopiedItNowItSucks: Instead of trying to be a faithful depiction of Hunter Adams' life and career, the film seems focused on repurposing ''Film/DeadPoetsSociety'', [[RecycledInSpace with doctors]]: both movies center around an "inspiring" rebel played by Creator/RobinWilliams who shakes things up in an establishment run by a no-fun-allowed authority figure, in both movies Williams' protagonist forms a group of academics that follow his example, in both films a character important to him dies tragically, and the scene with the ill children wearing the clown noses can be seen as the equivalent of the "Captain My Captain" scene from ''Dead Poets Society''. The fact that Patch even reads a poem during [[spoiler:Carin's funeral]] is just the icing on the cake.

* ClicheStorm: A perfect example of the worst of the Creator/RobinWilliams tropes in the same movie.

** Creator/PhillipSeymourHoffman playing his roommate, as both would die before their time in the same year.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: In one chapter of Greg Sestero's book, ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'', he recalls his experience on set with Creator/RobinWilliams and Creator/PhillipSeymourHoffman, who he described as very solemn as they were keeping in-character for the funeral scene. It astounded him to realize just how professional a comic actor like Williams could be, especially considering it's a scene [[spoiler:fabricating the death circumstances of a real person]].

** Phillip Seymour Hoffman playing his roommate, as both would die before their time in the same year.
* HeartwarmingInHindsight: Despite the criticism the movie received, the promotional picture of Patch smiling while wearing his clown nose became iconic enough for it to be forever associated with Robin Williams himself due to it being a genuinely touching image. It's become even more iconic since Williams' death.

* SpiritualSuccessor: Sort of to ''Film/{{Awakenings}}'' which also had Williams play a late-60s doctor.

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: In one chapter of Greg Sestero's book, ''Literature/TheDisasterArtist'', he recalls his experience on set with Robin Williams and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who he described as very solemn as they were keeping in-character for the funeral scene. It astounded him to realize just how professional a comic actor like Williams could be, especially considering it's a scene [[spoiler:fabricating the death circumstances of a real person]].

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/{{Awakenings}}'' which also had Williams play a late-60s doctor administering relatively unorthodox, but effective medicine.

* DesignatedHero: Besides acting like a general {{Jerkass}} to his schoolmates in an attempt to make them laugh, Patch also does several extremely ethically questionable actions, like stealing drugs from a hospital and practicing without a license. Patch's own sense of humor can also come across as offensive to those he's supposed to help, such as making jokes at the expense of a catatonic schizophrenic or making the university door reassemble a giant woman's vagina in preparation for visiting gynaecologists. He still gets treated as in the right, even when [[spoiler:it ends up killing two people]], and the only people who call him out for his actions are treated as humorless villains. Needless to say, the real-life Hunter Adams did no such thing.