On the night of his birthday, a mechanic from an idyllic farming community sees a bright light in the skies; it appears to fire something into him, knocking him off his feet, and by the next minute he has an extraordinarily clear head (nothing is made of the connection between the supernatural occurrence and the character's birthday--that's just a ruse to get him outside at night!). Soon, he's speaking fluent Spanish, reading three books a day, unscrambling Morse Code, building rocking chairs and beating the local doctor at chess! Despite an innate charm and his actorly commitment to the role, nothing about John Travolta suggests a rural simpleton. When he's slopping the pigs or working furiously underneath cars at the garage, Travolta looks as out of place as, well, Robert Duvall as the small town medico addicted to chess. Much of the hero's progress is done up in happy montages to pop songs ("Every day is a winding road"), while he attempts to woo a sassy single mom using auto innuendo (!). After he alienates just about everyone in town, we're meant to see that maybe he was better off not having a genius brain (alas, these yokels are too 'simple' to understand). A condescending feel-good concoction that is determined to manage all of our responses. Once the FBI is called in, smart-thinking viewers will use their brains and jump ship. Is there anything not fabricated about "Phenomenon"? *1/2 from ****
Review of Phenomenon
