Patty Hearst Review

Patty Hearst
The true story of a rich girl who was abducted by American revolutionaries in the 1970's. Her time spent with her captors made her question herself and her way of life and she joined forces with the cause that her abductors were fighting for. This created a US scandal and Patty Hearst has become a pop culture fixture.

by Nick de Semlyen |
Updated on
Release Date:

01 Jan 1988

Running Time:

108 minutes

Certificate:

18

Original Title:

Patty Hearst

Kidnapped in 1974 by a cadre of 'revolutionaries' calling themselves the Symbionese Liberation Army, teenager Patty Hearst went through a physical and mental ordeal that led to her taking up arms and joining the group.

Paul Schrader's intense drama pulls out all the stops in trying to portray the extent of her brainwashing - hypnotic repetition of camera angles and heightened sound effects make the early scenes particularly disorientating - but even so the character remains oddly remote. Which is more than can be said for Ving Rhames, on ferocious form as an urban guerrilla even Marcellus Wallace would cross the road to avoid.

Paul Schrader's intense drama pulls out all the stops
Just so you know, we may receive a commission or other compensation from the links on this website - read why you should trust us