Powder (1995)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Victor Salva

Writer (WGA):

Victor Salva (written by)

Release Date:

27 October 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Pure energy has a name

Plot:

A young bald albino boy with unique powers shakes up the rural community he lives in.

Plot Keywords:

Christ Allegory | Mutant | Psionic Power | Genius | Death

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Mary Steenburgen	...	Jessie Caldwell
Sean Patrick Flanery	...	Jeremy 'Powder' Reed
Lance Henriksen	...	Sheriff Doug Barnum
Jeff Goldblum	...	Donald Ripley
Brandon Smith	...	Deputy Harley Duncan
Bradford Tatum	...	John Box
Susan Tyrrell	...	Maxine
Missy Crider	...	Lindsey Kelloway
Ray Wise	...	Dr. Aaron Stripler
Esteban Powell	...	Mitch
Reed Frerichs	...	Skye
Chad Cox	...	Zane
Joe Marchman	...	Brennan
Phil Hayes	...	Greg Reed (as Phillip Maurice Hayes)
Danette McMahon	...	Emma Barnum

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for intense, sometimes frightening elements of theme, and for language.

Runtime:

111 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Brazil:14 | Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:L | Australia:M | Denmark:16 | Germany:12 (w) | Spain:7 | Sweden:11 | UK:12 | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Houston, Texas, USA

Company:

Caravan Pictures

Trivia:

During the hospital scene where Ripley confronts the Sheriff about the classroom incident, we hear a voice on the intercom paging "Dr. Tarantini", "Dr. McGreal", "Dr. Cain" and "Dr. Grodnik". Tom Tarantini and Sean Cain are both actors in the film, Mimi N. McGreal is a production assistant, and Daniel Grodnik is the film's producer.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the final confrontation with John, the button on his jeans are magnetically drawn to Jeremy, but the identical buttons on his denim jacket are somehow unaffected.

Quotes:

Powder: And then its possible to talk to someone without any lies. With no sarcasms, no deceptions, no exaggerations, or any of the other things people use to confuse the truth.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Alag: He Is Different.... He Is Alone... (2006)

Soundtrack:

ROLL UP WALTZ

I really like this movie, it is "pure energy."

Sean Patrick Flanery, better known as Indiana Jones in the several "Young Indiana Jones" films, plays "Powder", an albino whose mother was struck by lightning right before he was born. Mom died, dad disowned him, and Powder grew up in the basement of his grandparents' home, learning everything into his teenage years just by reading books. And he knew every book, down to being able to recite anything on any page!

He is discovered after his one remaining grandparent dies. He is evaluated and put into a home for boys. Being unpigmented and totally hairless, everyone stares at him, and the bullies in school treat him badly. It is discovered that he has the highest I.Q. ever recorded, and when an "educator" asks him if he knows what that means, he replies, "If you really believe that about me, why are you asking me that question?" Good script writing.

In a very powerful scene, after a deer is shot, Powder touches the deer and grasps the hunter, and transfers the feelings such that the hunter feels what the deer feels as it dies. That realization totally changes the man, one of the local deputies.

Another is when Powder helps the sheriff understand what his dying wife wants, which turns out only for the father and son to reconcile.

Jeff Goldblum, like every movie he is in, is the "scene stealer" in each scene he is in. He is such a good actor, especially when he plays a scientist, as he does here. he realizes that Powder is something special, and closer to being "pure energy" than anyone before. His classroom demo of "Jakob's Ladder" goes haywire when all the electricity is attracted towards Powder, literally lifting him off the floor. Which was a sign of things to come, during the interaction with lightning during the final scene.

"Powder" is an absorbing film, obviously fictional, but thought-provoking. I rate it a strong "8" of 10.

This film uses the albinism and electrical energy as a vehicle to explore the concept of "different", and works the issue of how far humanity needs to come to respect each other, and especially embrace each others' differences.

Mary Steenburgen is cast as the social worker who first rescues Powder from the cellar, and who tries to find a way for him to live a normal life.