Phenomenon

George Malley, a small-town car mechanic, sees a light in the sky on his birthday and collapses. When he wakes he can read a book a day, learns Spanish in a few days, and moves objects without touching them. Jon Turteltaub directed with John Travolta in the lead. Screenwriter Gerald Di Pego drew on Zen philosophy, and the film also carries ideas from L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics via Travolta's Scientology connection, which was argued about on release. Its actual interest is not the powers but the town's reaction: as George gets smarter, his neighbours first admire him and then fear him. On a 32 million dollar budget it grossed around 152 million worldwide, 104.6 million domestically and 47.4 million abroad. Reviews split. Rotten Tomatoes sits at 49 percent and Metacritic at 41, while CinemaScore audiences gave it an A minus. Roger Ebert gave it three stars out of four and wrote that it rounds the three bases of change, acceptance and love very nicely. Who it is for: viewers who like slow, emotional films about miracles. Who it is not for: anyone expecting science fiction. The film has no interest in explanation and its final act is built openly on feeling.