AllMovie

After playing the funny-yet-sympathetic doctor in Awakenings, the funny-yet-sympathetic teacher in Dead Poets Society, and then the funny-yet-sympathetic disc jockey in Good Morning, Vietnam, Robin Williams finally goes back to his roots as the funny-yet-sympathetic doctor in this story of a medical student who reminds us that "laughter is always the best medicine." Comedy director Tom Shadyac's true story of a man named Patch Adams -- who was responsible for introducing the initial concept of endorphins in the brain -- is told with all the Universal Studios panache, trying to appease all filmgoing audiences. Patch's philosophy of "treating the patient, not the disease" creates both allies and foes at the University of Virginia medical hospital. His roommate, Mitch (Boogie Nights' Philip Seymour Hoffman), sees Patch as a goofball, until his own problem with a stubborn patient forces him to utilize Patch's methods. However, the university dean is Patch's harshest critic, eventually dismissing Patch from the hospital. As Patch himself overcomes serious depression, he eventually opens his own clinic where he gains notoriety as the "people doctor." He then writes a book, which is ultimately turned into a Hollywood movie starring Robin Williams. You get the idea.