Phenomenon
Metascore
41 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 17
  3. Negative: 3 out of 17
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  1. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    75
    It's about change, acceptance and love, and it rounds those three bases very nicely, even if it never quite gets to home.
  2. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: David Sterritt
    75
    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.
  3. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Susan Wloszczyna
    63
    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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  4. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Liam Lacey
    63
    In a film that offers itself as a Gump-esque moral fable, Phenomenon could serve as a case study of When Smart Films Fail.
  5. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Peter Stack
    50
    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.
  6. San Francisco Examiner
    Reviewed by: Barbara Shulgasser
    50
    As always, Duvall is magnificent. Even in this small part, he manages to give one of the most stirring performances in the movie.
  7. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Staff(not credited)
    50
    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.
  8. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    50
    Put simply, this movie is dumb.
  9. Newsweek
    Reviewed by: David Ansen
    50
    Soft to the point of squishiness, Phenomenon is rescued from terminal bathos by Travolta's radiant conviction.
  10. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Ken Tucker
    42
    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.
  11. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Kenneth Turan
    40
    Well-meaning and convinced it has something of value to say, its "Reach Out and Touch Someone" sensibility ensures that all its satisfactions will prove hollow, and so they do.
  12. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Elvis Mitchell
    40
    A whopping wrong turn throws this lightweight, benign-looking movie terminally off course.
  13. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    40
    Instead, director Jon Turteltaub has taken the easiest road, emerging with a soppy, soft-headed disease-of-the-week-style piece that sentimentalizes or opts out of every interesting issue the script raises.
  14. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Desson Thomson
    40
    While Phenomenon attempts, tritely, to ascend into mind-blowing significance, it also plummets into a pit of sentimental mush.
  15. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    30
    Phenomenon flails about in a search for direction: inspirational drama, romance, social study, government intrigue- nothing fits or is explored very deeply.
  16. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Hal Hinson
    30
    Still, well-intentioned sappiness is something we can deal with; the lack of any genuine dramatic conflict is a more damaging shortcoming.
  17. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    30
    I don't doubt the noble motives behind this Disney parable, but the attempts at amiable, laid-back dialogue (script by Gerald DiPego) are painful, the pacing is sluggish, and the confused story's poorly focused.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. avatar16
    6
    Autant le dire tout de suite, Phénomène n'est pas un film mémorable. En effet, il est l'exemple type de la gentille comédie tout droit sortie des studios hollywoodiens qui flirte avec le fantastique pour attirer les spectateurs (en plus du casting, composé tout de même de John Travolta, Forest Whitaker, Robert Duvall...). Avec une mise en scène plate et une bande son trop poussée lors des séquences romantiques ou tristes, le film ne cache en aucun cas son statut de divertissement américain. Mais il faut bien reconnaître que Phénomène reste avant tout attachant. En premier lieu par ses personnages, assez bien interprétés; et par son histoire qui prend enfin de l'ampleur après une première partie axée sur la comédie orientée fantastique/science-fiction, grâce à un retournement de situation astucieux sur ce que vit le personnage de Travolta. Un film juste attachant et pas désagréable à regarder.… Full Review »
  2. JayH
    6
    After such a promising first half, the story just peters out and loses its focus. The performances are good and sincere, I just wish they had kept the lightness of the first half throughout the film. Interesting idea given a fair treatment.… Full Review »
  3. AtticusD
    10
    SO good.
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