Zero Patience

1993

1h 40m

Musical

List

50%

Tomatometer

8 Reviews

48%

Audience Score

1,000+ Ratings

The 19th-century English explorer Sir Richard Burton (John Robinson) meets the ghost of the first AIDS patient (Normand Fauteux), in Toronto.

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Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

Rated: 3/5

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

James Berardinelli

ReelViews

Rated: 1.5/4

Jan 1, 2000

Full Review

Steve Warren

Southern Voice (Atlanta)

It tries to affect the viewer on so many levels that it doesn't really work on any. By the end of its 90 minutes, my patience was worn down to zero, too.

May 8, 2023

Full Review

Jim Merrett

The Advocate

A daring cinematic gem that contains at least three musical moments that deserve to go down in gay history.

Apr 19, 2022

Full Review

Lesley Thornton

Independent on Sunday

Its heart is in the right place. Its art, unfortunately, is not.

Nov 30, 2017

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Jul 7, 2005

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Audience Member

Zero Patience is an avant garde musical about the patient zero urban legend who was rumour to be the person responsible for bring AIDS to North America. The plot was actually not too bad despite being incomprehensible, the numbers were unimpressive, acting was awful. The redeemable element was the enthusiastic performance by John Robinson and the anachronistic production.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Zero Patience has very important messages accompanying its intentions. But, its ridiculously out of control pacing and bizarre spectacle obscure the communication between the viewer and the film. The musical numbers seem to be done in spite of throwing them in within five minutes of each other without proper build-up. Additionally, the characters change their motivation so often that it becomes underwhelming. The themes are strong, but the execution is terrible.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/08/23

Full Review

Audience Member

The film presents plenty of interesting ideas and sides to the origin of AIDS/HIV in North America via Patient Zero and how it's presented. The way that the ideas are presented go from wild and cheesy to harsh and chilling, sometimes within a span of a minute. The shift between the two have a tough time finding balance and sometimes the transition into a song is quite jarring.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I don't even know what to say...

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Not bad at all. The film has a nice, irreverent tone that surprisingly works nicely with its rather grim subject matter. The musical numbers themselves are not hugely inspired though. There's some great production design in one of them (wherein Burton enters a fantasy world of papier mache airplanes and large needles), though overall, the direction of these segments is somewhat flat. That being stated, the music itself is phenomenal. The songs range from hilarious to wonderfully touching. The first song, wherein Zero begs for his story to be told, is fantastic.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/18/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Funny and energetic, "Zero Patience" is a bit disjointed here and there and has a rather abrupt ending, but overall it's a decent enough flick. The songs are catchy and make you laugh, and the duet between two sleeping men's buttholes is pretty hilarious. You can tell this was made on a low budget, but that doesn't really hamper it. An enjoyable, if bizarre movie.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/09/23

Full Review

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John Greyson

Director

John Robinson

Sir Richard Burton

Normand Fauteux

Zero

Dianne Heatherington

Mary

Richardo Keens-Douglas

George

Bernard Behrens

Dr. Placebo

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Synopsis

The 19th-century English explorer Sir Richard Burton (John Robinson) meets the ghost of the first AIDS patient (Normand Fauteux), in Toronto.

Director: John Greyson
Producer: Louise Garfield, Anna Stratton
Screenwriter: John Greyson
Production Co: Téléfilm Canada, Ontario Film Development Corporation
Genre: Musical
Original Language: English
Release Date (DVD): May 31, 2005
Runtime: 1h 40m
Sound Mix: Stereo

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