Critic Reviews
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75
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Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
It's about change, acceptance and love, and it rounds those three bases very nicely, even if it never quite gets to home.
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75
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Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
John Turteltaub directed the drama, which lapses into medical jargon and new-age clichés near the end, but it scores telling points with its respect for intelligence and optimistic view of human potential.
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63
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USA Today Susan Wloszczyna
Phenomenon is a fantasy about super-intelligence that works best if you can switch off your brain. Those who can will reach weepy nirvana. Those who can't will find this sticky-sweet wallow a bit, well, dumb. [03 Jul 1996 Pg.01.D]
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63
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The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
In a film that offers itself as a Gump-esque moral fable, Phenomenon could serve as a case study of When Smart Films Fail.
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50
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San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack
But this soggy, sentimental tour through a rural dreamworld of salt-of- the-earth versus supercharged intelligence never quite gets deep enough to touch the soul -- or to make sense.
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50
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San Francisco Examiner Barbara Shulgasser
As always, Duvall is magnificent. Even in this small part, he manages to give one of the most stirring performances in the movie.
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50
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TV Guide
In time-honored Hollywood fashion, PHENOMENON suggests that smart people are friendless freaks who'd be far better off if only they were just as dumb as the rest of us.
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50
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ReelViews James Berardinelli
Put simply, this movie is dumb.
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42
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Entertainment Weekly
Phenomenon (directed by Jon Turteltaub, the guy who sedated us with "While You Were Sleeping") would be pretty unbearable were Travolta not so consistently charming.
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30
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Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten
Phenomenon flails about in a search for direction: inspirational drama, romance, social study, government intrigue- nothing fits or is explored very deeply.
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