Synopsis
An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.
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Cast
- John TravoltaGeorge Malley
- Kyra SedgwickLace Pennamin
- Forest WhitakerNate Pope
- Robert DuvallDoc
- Jeffrey DeMunnProfessor Ringold
- Richard KileyDr. Wellin
- David GallagherAl
- Ashley BuccilleGlory
- Tony GenaroTito
- Sean O'BryanBanes
Recommendations
- 75
Chicago Sun-Times
It's about change, acceptance and love, and it rounds those three bases very nicely, even if it never quite gets to home. - 75
Christian Science Monitor
John Turteltaub directed the drama, which lapses into medical jargon and new-age clichés near the end, but it scores telling points with its respect for intelligence and optimistic view of human potential. - 50
ReelViews
Put simply, this movie is dumb. - 50
San Francisco Chronicle
But this soggy, sentimental tour through a rural dreamworld of salt-of- the-earth versus supercharged intelligence never quite gets deep enough to touch the soul -- or to make sense. - 50
San Francisco Examiner
As always, Duvall is magnificent. Even in this small part, he manages to give one of the most stirring performances in the movie. - 40
The New York Times
A whopping wrong turn throws this lightweight, benign-looking movie terminally off course. - 40
Washington Post
While Phenomenon attempts, tritely, to ascend into mind-blowing significance, it also plummets into a pit of sentimental mush. - 30
Washington Post
Still, well-intentioned sappiness is something we can deal with; the lack of any genuine dramatic conflict is a more damaging shortcoming.
