PowderI felt bad when I watched this movie. I saw it twice and for one reason only: I fell asleep watching it the first time. When I saw it the second time, I enjoyed it, but only when Powder was doing something magical, or more like electric. The thing that kept me awake was Sean Patrick Flanery's performance. He was incredible. However, the rest of the movie was slow moving and boring.
The basic plot is that a mother gets struck by lightning and she goes into labor. The baby is born without melanin and has an amazing brain power. The father rejects his son and gives him to his father to take care of. The boy is raised in a cellar because his eyes are sensitive to the light. When the grandfather dies, the cops arrive. They find the boy in the cellar and finally get him to come out. He is sympathized for by Mary Steenburgen. She cares for him and takes him to her house. She enrolls him at a school where he is prejudiced against because of his milky white skin. Everyone thinks he is strange.
Finally she enrolls him in a different school where he might feel more comfortable, but he doesn't. Only two people at this school seem to care for him: a young girl in his science class and the teacher, played by Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park). During the class, the teacher brings out a Jacob's ladder and turns it on. The electricity bolts from this device and shoots into Powder. The rest of the movie begins to slow down here.
The special effects of this movie are pretty good, especially when Powder gets hit by lightning in the end. The performances are so-so, except for Sean Patrick Flanery's. Lance Henrickson is okay as one of the villains. But Sean steals the show with his show of many different emotions.
One memorable bit in this movie is when they go hunting. The sheriff shoots a deer and everone cheers, except Powder. He sympathizes with it. He reaches down and puts his hand on it. He can feel the pain of the deer. He grabs the sheriff by the wrist and transfers the pain of the deer to the sheriff. The sheriff shudders in pain and falls to the ground. It changes him in a way nothing else could. It's an emotional but fun moment in an otherwise slow-going movie.
The movie is rated PG-13, because of some violence, language, and some nudity. The movie has nothing really offensive in it, and it teaches morals like don't prejudice against anything unusual. The movie is almost a family film, but some of the language, which could have been taken out, makes it more appropriate for teenagers and older.