Plot
During the American Revolution in 1776, Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson), a veteran of the French and Indian War and widower with seven children, is called to Charleston to vote in the South Carolina General Assembly on a levy supporting the Continental Army. Fearing war against Great Britain, Benjamin abstains. Captain James Wilkins (Adam Baldwin) votes against and joins the Loyalists. A supporting vote is nonetheless passed and against his father's wishes, Benjamin's eldest son Gabriel (Heath Ledger) joins the Continental Army.
Some years later, Charleston falls to the British and a wounded Gabriel returns home carrying dispatches. The Martins care for both British and American wounded from the nearby battle, before British Dragoons led by a ruthless Colonel William Tavington (Jason Isaacs) arrive and arrest Gabriel. When Benjamin's young son Thomas tries to free Gabriel, he is shot and killed by Tavington, who orders the Martins' house burned and wounded American regulars executed. After the British leave, Benjamin gives his next two eldest sons muskets and they ambush the British unit escorting a shackled Gabriel. Benjamin skillfully, yet brutally, kills many soldiers with his tomahawk. A British survivor tells Tavington of an almost unseen man rapidly killing the soldiers, earning Benjamin the moniker of the "Ghost". Benjamin and Gabriel resolve to fight the British, leaving the younger children in the care of Benjamin's sister-in-law, Charlotte (Joely Richardson).
Benjamin meets with his former commanding officer Colonel Harry Burwell (Chris Cooper) and is given the rank of colonel to lead the local colonial militia due to his combat experience, tasked with keeping Lord Cornwallis's (Tom Wilkinson) British regiments pinned south through guerrilla warfare. French Major Jean Villeneuve (Tchéky Karyo) helps train the militia and promises more French aid. Benjamin's militia harass British supply lines, capture goods including some of Cornwallis' belongings, and burn half the bridges and ferries leading to Charleston. Lord Cornwallis perceives these actions as uncivilized and blames Tavington for creating this reaction with his brutal tactics. Irritated at his lack of progress and insulted by Benjamin's clever ploy to free some of the captured militia, Cornwallis reluctantly allows Tavington to use whatever means necessary.
Tavington learns the identities of some of the militia members and proceeds to attack their families and burn their homes. Benjamin's family flees Charlotte's plantation as it is burned and settle on the coast in a Gullah settlement with former black slaves. There, Gabriel marries his betrothed Anne (Lisa Brenner) and Benjamin commits to Charlotte. Tavington's brigade, seeking Martin's secret hideout, rides into the town that supplies the militia. After assembling all the townspeople into the church, promising freedom for the location of the hideout, the doors are barricaded after the location is given. Tavington orders a horrified Captain Wilkins to burn it, killing all inside including Anne and her family. After discovering the travesty, Gabriel races to attack Tavington's encampment and is mortally wounded by him. Benjamin arrives to have his son die in his arms.
Benjamin deeply mourns and briefly wavers in his commitment to continue fighting, but is resolved when reminded of his son's dedication to the cause. Martin's militia, along with a larger Continental Army regiment, confronts Cornwallis' regiment in a decisive battle. During the chaos, Benjamin rallies the troops to push forward against the British lines and Tavington personally targets him. During the fight, Martin collapses and appears to be severely wounded. As Tavington prepares to finish him, Benjamin rises up with a musket, wounds him in the abdomen with the bayonet and delivers the coup de grâce, avenging his sons' deaths. The battle is a Continental victory and Cornwallis is forced to retreat. After many retreats, Cornwallis is besieged at Yorktown, Virginia, where he surrenders to the surrounding Continental Army and the long awaited French naval force. After the conflict ends, Benjamin returns with his family and discovers his militia men rebuilding his homestead, previously destroyed by British soldiers.
Read more about this topic: The Patriot (2000 film)
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
““The plot thickens,” he said, as I entered.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“Morality for the novelist is expressed not so much in the choice of subject matter as in the plot of the narrative, which is perhaps why in our morally bewildered time novelists have often been timid about plot.”
—Jane Rule (b. 1931)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)