This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The acting in this movie is really good.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

This is not a quirky drama about a misfit boy with supernatural powers. It's a movie about a boy who is born fully Awakened, Enlightened or Self-Realized, who directly experiences the interwoven oneness of all things (he describes as much several times in the film,) and is unable to assimilate into a world full of beings who instead see themselves as separate and hostile to each other. As such he is similar to so many realized masters of the East - Buddha, Ramana Maharshi, etc. - who were always much more comfortable being alone in a contemplative state than attempting to mix with or teach others. If you watch the film from that perspective, you can see his plight poignantly portrayed, as he tries to relate to others, even teach them a thing or two, when he knows that at any moment he can overpower the whole small-town institutional system that's trying to hold him and help him be "normal." A very selfless act, as is the way he helps a gruff sheriff contact his dying wife, or the way he restarts the heart of an "enemy" schoolmate who humiliates and threatens to kill him. This was Salva's intention, to show how a fully awakened being could show us all the beauty & reality of life, if only we would allow him to mentor us, instead of the other way around. Beautifully acted by all involved. See it and let it touch you deeply.

Jeremy 'Powder' Reed (Sean Patrick Flanery) is an albino. His mother died in childbirth. His father disowned him. Sheriff Barnum (Lance Henriksen) investigates a dead elderly man and discovers his grandson Powder hiding in the basement. Powder has never been to school and little contact with the outside world except in books. Social services worker Jessie Caldwell (Mary Steenburgen) places him to all boy's Central home and to the high school of small town Wheaton City. His special powers causes fear, fascination and isolation. Physics teacher Donald Ripley (Jeff Goldblum)'s electricity demonstration gets out of hand. Fellow student Lindsey is fascinated but John Box picks on him.The kid is an albino and everybody acts like they've seen a ghost even before he shows his powers to them. I'm not sure what kind of backwards 'To Kill a Mockingbird' hick town this is suppose to be. I'm willing to buy the teen bullies. However the 'kid' actors are not that compelling. It's as if the casting agent is good at casting adults but has no clue how to get good young actors. Sean Patrick Flanery does his best but his character is emotionally limited. He isn't allowed to be happy. The bullies are trying too hard and the girl doesn't have the charisma. John Box is closer to 30. The movie is trying so hard to be profound that it doesn't ring anywhere close to true. People are too stupid. People are too mean-spirited. The melodrama is too high. The actors sound fake. Powder is basically either going to be a superhero or supervillain. This could be a great comic book origin movie but every character is slightly wrong.

The movie is not that bad when you watch it with a blind eye. However, Disney will no longer be supported by me or any of my family after I found out the God awful truth about the director of this movie, and how Disney has betrayed the life blood of their business. Everyone knew Disney was one of the first major corporations to strongly support gay rights as far back as the 80's. By the 90's they were honoring gay unions for employees. Honestly, that's fine. Its their company and they can do whatever they please. But I think they committed the cardinal sin of "looking over" things about employees that NEVER should be done. Disney "tried" to claim they didn't know about Victor Silva's past and him conviction of child molestation. What made it especially bad is that is was done to a child actor while he was making the movie! Honestly, how does Disney not see this as a problem?! They make movies for KIDS for crying out loud! Silva is gay and I think that blinded Disney into looking over the molestation. I personally think there is a lot of "looking over" as it pertains to the gay community, but that's just me. However, making a man rich who is obviously a total scumbag goes beyond the pale. Don't watch this movie. Send a message to Disney and to others that this kind of "support" cannot be tolerated!

Powder was just a baby when his mom died. While giving birth she was struck by lightning and died on the operating table. The baby survived, but the dad, seeing that the baby is albino (a lack of pigment in hair, eyes and skin tone), he becomes disgusted and leaves the baby with its grandparents. Powder grows up isolated from most human contact; his world is in the classic novels he's memorized over the years. Soon he is found and sent away as a teen to a school for boys. They think he is weird because of his appearance and they constantly make fun of him and bully him. However, he shows a few people in the rural New England town that they shouldn't judge a person by appearance; he shows them the good in his powers and in himself. This film has great soundtrack, an amazing plot and a lesson anyone can carry with them their whole life: don't judge a person by race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or morals; judge them based on their actions. The ending of the film was absolutely breathtaking, a beautiful scene. I hope Powder s left alone and never remade with CGI, because its a classic that will be loved among viewers for a long time.