POWDER
A film review by James Berardinelli
Copyright 1995 James Berardinelli
RATING (0 TO 10): 6.3
United States, 1995 U.S. Availability: 10/27/95 (wide) Running Length: 1:51 MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Mature themes, mild profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Sean Patrick Flanery, Mary Steenburgen, Lance Henriksen, Jeff Goldblum, Brandon Smith, Missy Crider Director: Victor Salva Producers: Roger Birnbaum and Daniel Grodnik Screenplay: Victor Salva Cinematography: Jerzy Zielinski Music: Jerry Goldsmith U.S. Distributor: Hollywood Pictures
Imagine EDWARD SCISSORHANDS under the control of a mainstream director rather than someone offbeat and eccentric like Tim Burton. The result would have been just another motion picture about a prototypical misfit trying to find his niche--a movie with a lot of manipulation and too many easy answers. POWDER is such a film. Unmistakably designed with teenagers in mind, this movie presses numerous emotional hotbuttons in a manner that is as obvious as it is skillful.
On some levels, the film works. It tells a modern-day fable with enough pseudo-scientific gobbledygook to make the scenario sound almost plausible. POWDER is well-paced and effective at getting the audience to care about the principal personality. It's likely that anyone who has ever felt like an outsider will see an element of himself or herself in the title character, as essayed by Sean Patrick Flanery. It's easy to sympathize and identify with the loner.
However, while doing all that competently, POWDER consistently avoids taking chances. The script, which backs away from real dramatic conflict, lacks courage, preferring Hollywood-type scenarios to something grittier. The title character always does the right thing. No matter how unjustly he's treated, he never lashes out. The film stays away from exploring the real ugliness of intolerance, instead relying upon stereotypes like the spiteful bully and his ignorant friends. We know from the beginning how these characters are going to react in any situation, and never feel anything for them because no attempt is made to give them humanity. In this entire film, Powder is the only multi-dimensional personality. Everyone else, good or bad, is merely filling a stock role.
Powder's real name is Jeremy Reed. He was raised and educated by his grandmother and grandfather in their small house in Texas--no friends and no schools. Powder is an albino, with the characteristic white skin and pink eyes, but that's not all that's unusual about him-- his body has no hair and he possesses "the most advanced intellect in the history of humankind." He also has a strange affinity for electricity. Radios and televisions don't work around him and, during thunderstorms, he acts like a lightning rod.
When Powder's grandparents die, he is taken to a local institution to live with other boys his age. There, the strangeness of his appearance creates an almost-universal sense of ill-will and unease. Only a few people attempt to get to know Powder: Donald Ripley (Jeff Goldblum), a science teacher at the local high school; Jesse Caldwell (Mary Steenburgen), the woman who runs the institution; Sheriff Barnum (Lance Henriksen), the chief law officer of Wheaton City; and Lindsey (Missy Crider), the sole person of Powder's age who isn't afraid of him.
Director Victor Salva extracts a few noteworthy moments from his own run-of-the-mill script. Powder's interaction with Lindsey is one such high point. His reaction to the shooting of a deer is another. In general, however, by staying within carefully predetermined bounds and refusing to attempt anything controversial or genuinely shocking, POWDER remains restricted to mediocrity. There's no denying the emotional appeal of the movie, but the opportunity for more was passed over. POWDER wants to make its audience cry without causing them too much discomfort.
- James Berardinelli (jberardinell@delphi.com)
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