Director Turtletaub's second bullseye before disappearing into a horrible mire of Nicholas Cage movies, PHENOMENON is another example of his ability to land family-approved, middle-of-the-road, feel-good fair that doesn't insult the audience's intelligence despite its formulaic roots. A staple addition to John Travolta's come-back period in the mid-1990's, the film is an almost Mills & Boons fantasy weeper where a man discovers he has been gifted with extraordinary powers that change the lives of the whole town around him, but comes at a hard price.

Safe for kids, heart-wrenching for grown ups, augmented with classy visual effects, warm and fun music, believable performances and a curious yarn that never lets up on the pace, a director could be happy if they could turn out films as solid and tuned as PHENOMENON even if they never turn out to be blockbusters. A rare, digestible, film of this genre; even Travolta haters may find this sleeper hit satisfying.

Another good lead performance by John Travolta. Kyra Sedgewick, Forrest Whitiker and Robert Duvall all have some great moments. The first half of the movie sets up a nice premise but the second half of the movie takes a nosedive. Anything that was interesting about this ordinary man suddenly being extraordinary gets mucked up by where the story goes. The last scene is a terrific button to the best parts of the movie and reminder of the movie that the first half was and you wished continued throughout. Completely watchable, but not compelling and messed up its chance to be memorable.
Not Recommend.

John Travolta's nice Jesus act can't save him from the real evil surgeon of this movie...the script.

From the director of National Treasure.

Filme recomendado pelo Junior Manfrin, adorei, história interessante e final inesperado. E fica a mesma dica do Junior, ver com áudio original, por que o Português é a língua mais difícil do mundo.

Filme interessante, uma ou outra situação um pouco forçada. Detalhe, só assista esse filme com áudio original.

This review reportedly contains spoilers. I can handle the truth.

Another good lead performance by John Travolta. Kyra Sedgewick, Forrest Whitiker and Robert Duvall all have some great moments. The first half of the movie sets up a nice premise but the second half of the movie takes a nosedive. Anything that was interesting about this ordinary man suddenly being extraordinary gets mucked up by where the story goes. The last scene is a terrific button to the best parts of the movie and reminder of the movie that the first half was and you wished continued throughout. Completely watchable, but not compelling and messed up its chance to be memorable.
Not Recommend.

This is one of the worst movies ever.

Sigh ! Just watch it and forget about it.

John Travolta's nice Jesus act can't save him from the real evil surgeon of this movie...the script.

From the director of National Treasure.

Filme recomendado pelo Junior Manfrin, adorei, história interessante e final inesperado. E fica a mesma dica do Junior, ver com áudio original, por que o Português é a língua mais difícil do mundo.

Filme interessante, uma ou outra situação um pouco forçada. Detalhe, só assista esse filme com áudio original.

twaddle

but good watchin twaddle

Travolta plays dumb a whole lot better than off the chart I.Q.

The two stars are for mr. Whitaker and mr. Duval, for who I have nothing but respect, but they shouldn't cash their paychecks with trifle tripe like this.