>>REVIEW
PEACEFUL WARRIOR
STARRING Nick Nolte, Scott Mechlowicz and Amy Smart
DIRECTED BY Victor Salva
Opens Friday, July 14
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Filmmaker, convicted child-molester and two-star guru Victor Salva (Powder, Rites of Passage… the first Jeepers Kreepers being an anomaly), returns to theatres in melodramatic form with his latest offering, Peaceful Warrior, an existential sports drama that warrants praise for its ability to craft a story that successfully alienates the entire spectrum of film viewers.
Inspired by true events, the film is adapted from the Oprah-worthy autobiographical novel of the same name by author and former gymnast Dan Millman. Scott Mechlowicz (Eurotrip, Mean Creek) stars as Millman, the all-American, egocentric college gymnast who, despite having everything (a woman, money, motorcycles and skills), quietly harbours a growing discomfort within. Millman's prowess both on the rings and in the bedroom are juxtaposed with scenes depicting his inability to sleep at night (trouble sleeping always means there's a growing discomfort within).
We also know that he’s troubled because on one of his late-night I'm-disillusioned-despite-my-success jogs he happens across Socrates (such nuances and subtleties adorn this film), a mysterious gas station attendant (played by Nick Nolte looking too much like an elderly Ernest Hemingway) and self-described "peaceful warrior." Socrates is all too eager to address the boy’s many superficial shortcomings, inundating him with a barrage of sophomoric maxims on the nature of truth and being.
Thus begins a topsy-turvy relationship (encouraged by a motorcycle accident that leaves Millman's leg in a million little pieces) in which Socrates remoulds the boy's wayward character by imparting his own wisdom about how living in the moment, with a clear mind, will make everything better, forever.
All sarcasm aside, this movie really does suck. Mechlowicz, despite his determined performance in Mean Creek, lacks depth here (to Salva's discredit), showing about as much versatility as Keanu Reeves in Sweet November. Added to this is a plot that completely misuses its potential to create an empowering, feel-good story.
Ironically, Peaceful Warrior, with its Socratic pretensions delivers 121 minutes of grade-school metaphysics where an 80-minute, well-intentioned teen romp would have been far more effective. |
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