Phenomenon (1996)

It's about change, acceptance and love, and it rounds those three bases very nicely, even if it never quite gets to home.

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.

Put simply, this movie is dumb.

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.

As always, Duvall is magnificent. Even in this small part, he manages to give one of the most stirring performances in the movie.