THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 29, 1995 TAG: 9510310475
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
``POWDER'' HAS the initial ``look'' of a hit.
The character of Powder is quirky enough to make for splashy TV commercials that immediately evoke a few obvious ancestors: the eccentric look of ``Edward Scissorhands,'' the outsider's vulnerability of ``E.T.'' and the come-from-behind powers for revenge of ``Carrie.''
I would have rushed to see it even if I didn't have to. The advance promise is much.
Powder is an albino teenager who has been sheltered all his life in the dark cellar of his grandfather's rural farmhouse. He is chalky white and has no hair, yet he has an astonishing degree of intelligence.
When his grandfather dies, he is discovered by a callous outside world.
The conflict of innocent genius vs. intolerant civilization is a potentially dramatic one.
``Powder,'' for its stylish outcry against intolerance and promotion of individuality, is worth a watch, but it misses its chance for real sympathy by becoming too purposefully vague on too many fronts.
The central character might be called Power rather than Powder. In making such a choice, director-writer Victor Salva chooses to go not for sympathy but for quirkiness. It may be a fatal decision for the movie because, while we want to pull for Powder all the way, there are many indications that he doesn't need us.
Powder can quote hundreds of books. He can make spoons fly through the air. He can do wondrous things with electricity.
As played by Sean Patrick Flanery, Powder is a stunningly interesting character. A curious sheriff, played with uncharacteristic good-guy charisma by usually villainous Lance Henriksen, discovers the boy cowering in the cellar when he's called to the farmhouse.
Powder, it seems, was zapped with lighting while still in his mother's womb. The lighting burst killed her.
When he's dispatched to a state school for unruly boys, he's ostracized and ridiculed by his class-mates.
Mary Steenburgen plays the kindly social worker who tries to help Powder adjust to the outside world. She has the right face, and bearing, to pull it off. But once again, Powder's otherworldly powers seem to suggest he could manage his own agenda. Jeff Goldblum takes the surprisingly small role of the local science teacher who believes Powder is a result of advanced evolution.
The idea here is a positive one. It suggests that we will evolve, someday, into a race of highly intelligent, caring individuals, such as we are meant to believe Powder is. After the rash of movies that suggest there is little or no hope for our future (the current ``Strange Days'' and all the ``Mad Max'' imitations) here is a movie that forecasts a bright future - even if it's at some faraway point in evolution.
It's all too vague, though, and the movie leaves many subplots undeveloped.
In one scene, Brandon Smith, as the resident fat and prejudiced law enforcement officer, is seemingly ``transformed'' by Powder. The biased man kills a deer, and it affects Powder the way we all felt when Bambi's mom was shot down. By Powder's laying on of hands, and lighting flashing and such, the officer seems to be given a flash of compassion. One scene later, though, he's as intolerant and biased as ever. The turnaround is never explained.
Yet again, a Southern state is chosen to represent the height of intolerance and ignorance. It's a geographic prejudice that Hollywood pushes persistently.
It supposedly came as a surprise to the Disney organization, which released this film, that director Victor Salva was convicted of child molestation eight years ago and served 15 months in a California prison. This has nothing to do with the film's worth or lack of it. The man served his time.
Powder, the character, as it turns out, is more intriguing in his look than in his substance. Still, this film is a rare cry for the rights of individuals, no matter what their status of evolution. The right to individuality is the cry. The difference, in this case, is what counts. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DEAN WILLIAMS/Hollywood Pictures
Alienated from society because of his ghostlike appearance, a lonely
Powder (Sean Patrick Flanery) flees intolerance.
Graphic
MOVIE REVIEW
``Powder''
Cast: Mary Steenburgen, Sean Patrick Flanery, Lance Henriksen,
Jeff Goldblum, Brandon Smith, Susan Tyrrell, Missy Crider
Director and Writer: Victor Salva
Music: Jerry Goldsmith
MPAA rating: PG-13 (partial nudity)
Mal's rating: Two 1/2 stars
Locations: Chesapeake Square, Greenbrier in Chesapeake; Janaf in
Norfolk; Columbus, Surf-N-Sand in Virginia Beach
by CNB