Basen on real facts: the life of Hunter "Patch" Adams, a doctor of not conventional methods at all, whose role is starred by Robin Williams in one of his overdosed performances. With luxury supporting actors as Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Harold Gould or Peter Coyote, the movie supposes an attempt from the director (Tom Shadyac) of doing something more than an stupid comedy (other Shadyac movies are Ace Ventura or Liar Liar).

Marc Shaiman's score (only more than 20 minutes has been included on the cd release) can be considered among his better works, real waste of sensations across an extensive collection of insuperable main themes, as well as secondary motives that complete a real masterpiece. This works helps us to remind us the amazing facility of the composer to create superb themes and how he is able to compose so many (and unique) themes for just one only movie. The whole work turns out to be exceptional, exciting and beautiful, with a sound 100 % Shaiman (piano, flute ...) and that reaches its greatest moments in Adams's personal dialog at the edge of the precipice and, especially, in his clown's first show for the ill children (here in the shape of a carrousel theme, that turns and turns, grows and grows up to magical dimensions).

Attending to the music, as it appears in the movie, and to the official cd release, Patch Addams can summarize of the following form:

1. Main Theme. Unforgettable, with the leadership of the piano and fullly developed in the opening of the movie. We will only return to this theme in a scanty way, and under the discreet incorporation of a few note among other many good motives in the score. An incredible, tender, dramatic, sweet and sour theme, but simultaneously replete with hope.

2. “Look Beyond the Fingers”. It is a second main theme that appears in the movie, placed between several secondary motives that introduce it and later close the track. It is destined to Patch's experience in psychiatric, justly in the moment in which everything begins to change, when he is capable of seeing beyond. Soft, with a piano and soft winds. A new world is opened by this tune for the character, so this a magical theme that appears in several moments of the movie, as underscore of the capacity of the protagonist of seeing beyond the appearances.

3. "Children's Ward". The third main theme. One of the highest points of the movie and the score, as Patch is a clown for the sick children. It is a great theme, full of tenderness, emotion and magic, that turns and turns, grows and grows upon the piano and takes us to a captivating exceptional whirlwind of an intensity and beauty, culminating in an orchestral grand explosion.

4. "Ranch Reveal". The track starts with a new motive that takes us to a new version of "Look Beyond the Fingers" theme, then to go on to a happy tune where the piano leads again.

5. "Hello". This one is another main tune. It appears for the first time when Patch experiences his crazy theories with the transients and slips past in a butchers' convention. It is a happy and vivacious motive that describes perfectly the happy tone of the protagonist and his intentions. The track also presents in addition a new appearance of the "Look Beyond the Fingers" theme.

6."Speech/children's Reprise". A sad and contained take-off, the track presents another instalment of the main theme from "Look Beyond the Fingers", destined to Patch's speech during the judgment, at the end of the movie. The second part of the track changes in tone, cause it returns us to the positivism of the “Childrens Ward” track as the children enters into the room to support Patch.

7. "Front Porch" presents three parts. On the one hand, the declaration of love of the protagonists and it motivates a new and incredible main theme, the love one, constructed by two sections. On the other hand, a new “hope” theme, that will be a protagonist during the rest of the movie. Finally, a slight return to the love theme.

8. "Butterfly / Noodle Pool". A track that presents music for two different situations. The first one, that moment in which Patch has lost his hope. The butterfly appears flying and the love theme gets here a new role, cause the theme was so intimately presented in the previous track and now grows under a fully orchestral instalment. The second situation is that of the noodle pool for the sick ancient. Here we return to the exciting hope theme that was introduced on the previous track, then followed by the children´s ward theme and a conclusion, that consists on a little appearance of the main theme of the movie (from the first track of the score).

9. "The Ruling / Graduation". After a few introductory totally new notes in the score, we jump again to the emotion across a new theme of a perfect sound for the university, with a solemn trumpet over a orchestral base, ending with the hope theme that so much has hooked us with its appearances during both previous track. But this time fully developed, so that we can affirm that here we find another new theme. The track presents a new version of the theme from “Look Beyond the Fingers" and a large and victorious end, though ultimately a tender conclusion is imposed and everything is closed with a few slight notes of piano that suppose a variant of the main theme from the first track and that started the movie (and now closes it).

10. Songs. The compact disc release includes nine nice songs: Eric Clapton, Sly And the Family Stone, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young ..., as well as Diane Warren's painful ballad performed by Rod Stewart and that appears in the final credits destroying the final climate, in a space that must have been occupied by Shaiman's main theme.

As for the unreleased tracks, we must remind that there are some missing tracks to enjoy:

11. Unreleased music. Though the CD release is not too extensive, at least it summarizes very well the best from this brilliant work, in which the composer has composed an enormous variety of themes and motives, but there is other incidental passages, the majority that they have stayed out of the edition and that, in some cases, they turns out to be worthy of mention.

- An incidental track for Patch's entry in the psychiatric ward. An incidental brief cut, of probably less than one minute of duration, of a sad piano and support of clarinet.

- A tune for hunt of the squirrels, on the part of Patch and his rooms pal. It is a unique track on the score and deserves to be edited, since it presents a different sound of "action", simultaneously under a magical and encouraging sound. It ends with the main theme from "Look Beyond the Fingers".

- A soft piano and wind tune for Patch's arrival to the children´s ward. Too brief, but interesting, since contains music not included in the compact disc.

- The notes theme. A medley that includes themes as "Hello" and a variant of the children´s ward theme.

- Safari´s tune. A funny track for this curious moment, with incidental new passages, with exotic drums and an early appearance of the excellent and exciting theme that will be fully developed in the final parts of the movie.

- Theme for the visit to room 305. A brief instalment of "Hello" theme and new different notes.

- An angel in 305. When Patch manages to connect with this difficult patient. After a "magical" introduction (with choirs) the angel appears. Then, a new and interesting piano track that grows.

- Eureka!. New appearance and different version of the main theme from "Look Beyond the Fingers".

- Karen's death. An ambient and short track for the bad news.

- The funeral: Interesting track that presents several times the love theme into a sad approach, as well as other notes not appeared before in the score.

- The lost of hope. Before the appearance of the butterfly, there is a fragment of music that includes a dramatic and pessimistic version of the main theme from the first track of the score, as well as the children´s ward theme, among new music.

Definitively, a great score, that got an Oscar nomination, but the Academy finally gave it to Shakespeare in Love (Stephen Warbeck). Patch Adams is, clearly, a better score and deserved the award.

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