Movie Review

'Phenomenon' leaves audience feeling empty

Scott Foundas
Film Editor

Director Jon Turtletaub's "Phenomenon" is the kind of movie that's pretty bad to begin with, but ends up seeming even worse when you begin to think about the sheer wastefulness of the whole project.
After all, here's a big-budget studio picture starring top-drawer talent and sporting an accomplished assemblage of behind-the-scenes technicians, and there's not an original idea to be found within. "Phenomenon" can't even manage to put a fresh spin on familiar material (as is often the best hope for movies like these), so the finished product leaves you with a gaping, empty feeling--the sensation of having invested two hours of your life that you can never get back in a cinematic experience that has given you nothing in return.
Hollywood's comeback kid of the moment, John Travolta, stars as theextraordinary character of the title, an unassuming small-town mechanic who witnesses a mysterious flash of light on his 37th birthday and subsequently finds himself imbued with all sorts of mysterious powers. He can absorb information at astonishing rates, shows a faultless ability to maximize the efficiency of existing systems and procedures, and even seems to be able to predict earthquakes and telekinetically move objects. It's sort of like a strange cross between "Carrie" and "Rainman;" if only Turtletaub had the sly sense of humor to imagine the possibilities of such an encounter.
Instead, "Phenomenon" proceeds to take itself far more seriously than itshould for a film that remains steadfastly elusive as to the cause, meanings or repercussions of the events in its own narrative. For a story leaden with plot twists and turns, the origin of Travolta's gifts is never given a satisfactory explanation, while the tragic turn of events that marks the film's final act is never thematically justified and lingers there as a cheap and manipulative storytelling tactic. It's not that downbeat endings are bad per se, but for a movie that operates primarily on a level of pure romantic fluff, the sudden sullen nature of "Phenomenon"'s finale seems ever so pretentious and miscalculated.
For "Phenomenon," though, such faults are not limited to an isolated incident. Rather, there's something uncomfortable about the tone of the entire film. There's the suggestion of a love story between Travolta and Kyra Sedgewick (cast as a local farm woman/artist), but their encounters seem more the makings of an anti-romance than a relationship with any genuine passion or eroticism. They avoid each other like the plague most of the time, leaving us to wonder why Turtletaub and screenwriter GeraldDiPeggo included it in the first place. I wonder if Turtletaub and DiPeggo know the reason themselves.
In addition, no one seems to be trying to pump much life into this lethargic project from beginning to end. Travolta is as one-note and uninteresting as he's been since the "Look Who's Talking" comedies, whilehe and Sedgewick have utterly no chemistry together. Travolta doesbecome somewhat more charismatic toward the film's end, as his character begins to crack under the strain of his newfound knowledge, but it's all too little too late, as are Robert Duvall's precious few moments as a friendly town physician. Turtletaub, whose prior claim to fame was the amusing but derivative romantic comedy "While You Were Sleeping" shows little energy or style in this outing, shooting many set pieces like extended music videos set to one of many pop soundtrack tunes.
From the search for a missing child to the intervention of military authorities, "Phenomenon" runs the gamut from the ridiculous to the more ridiculous with little respite for honest emotion or human feeling along the way. There are no surprises here, nothing new to be found, regardless of how hard you look. In the terrified reaction of many townsfolk to Travolta's telepathic prowess, `'Phenomenon" shows the hint of a good idea, but this concept needed a better writer and a director with a hint of subtlety.
Like "Forrest Gump," to which it is already being compared, "Phenomenon" is the story of an everyday Joe who accomplishes exceptional feats and, like its predecessor, it pales in comparison to the movie that startedit all, Hal Ashby's "Being There." Anyone contemplating plunking down $7.50 at the "Phenomenon" box office should save their cash and rent this supremely witty and perceptive satire that makes no bones about exactly how our nation would react to an eccentric, mystical savant. "Phenomenon" seems especially shoddy in light of this masterpiece (or even in that of the mediocre "Gump"). D