BEFORE: Enough magic tricks - let's get back to people with "real" powers...
THE PLOT: An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.
AFTER: My original plan was to watch this film right after "Powder", and that would have been a good one - the central characters have a lot in common. Both have read a lot of books, appear to have superior intelligence, and have some kind of telekinesis based on matter/energy conversion.
Here George Malley (John Travolta) is a small-town mechanic who sees a bright light in the sky one night, then finds he has the ability to learn and process information quickly, like learning foreign languages, speed-reading, and coming up with ideas for new sources of energy. But though he is filled with new ideas, he encounters difficulties that include people avoiding him, and encounters with the government.
It's an interesting idea, but it's rife with little plotholes. If he's so super-smart, why didn't he realize that answering encrypted military messages might be a bad idea? Or why not predict that people would shun and fear his powers? For a smart guy, he makes a lot of mistakes...
And once again, it seems like a movie character is granted powers, without a clear idea of what he should be doing with them. The plot takes a sudden turn, and when the source of Malley's power is revealed, it seems like all other concerns, including the best way for him to accomplish things, get put aside. Perhaps with good reason, but still...
The implication seems to be that if only we could all tap into our brain's potential, we'd have all kinds of great ways to solve our energy problems, predict earthquakes, and make medical miracles - sounds great on paper, but it still seems like a stretch. Am I just being cynical?
Also starring Kyra Sedgwick, Forest Whitaker, Robert Duvall (last seen in "Kicking & Screaming"), and Brent Spiner (last seen in "Superhero Movie", playing the same sort of wacky scientist)
RATING: 4 out of 10 carburetors
With this film, I kick off a week of Travolta films - though I already watched "Hairspray" and "Primary Colors", I can at least bundle the rest of them together. Travolta becomes the 6th actor I'm building a theme week around, after Schwarzenegger, Eastwood, DeNiro, Adam Sandler and Will Ferrell.
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