Powerful, Worthwhile

Rating: 9/10 (15 September 2007)

This is based on true events we are told at the beginning.
Dan Millman (Mechlowicz) aspires to be an Olympic competitor and his whole life is turned around when he meets Socrates (Nolte) at a gas station one night when he couldn't sleep.
I thought this was going to be about a handicapped person who triumphs. After viewing the first few minutes of this, I couldn't think it would be anything else. But, it's not that at all. Dan can't sleep one night and goes for a run and ends up at a gas station for some water. He meets Socrates and is moderately impressed with him. Scott leaves the station, and sees Socrates walk out of the shop and sit in a chair outside. Scott walks on a couple more steps and looks back. Socrates is now standing on the roof of the gas station. How did he get up there in that short a time? Okay, now I was hooked on the movie. You will be too.
Yes, it almost seems like a Karate Kid movie with out the karate and in some ways, it is. Socrates takes Dan under his wing and teaches him about life and new values. Dan feels he doesn't need all this philosophy and preaching and resists for a while, but you know he will give in. And, you feel better when he does.
Nick Nolte is one of the finest actors to come out of Hollywood and here in this movie he transcends everything he has done before. There is no other way to say it. Scott Mechlowicz looks like Tony Perkins in some ways, but for some reason I kept thinking this was a Keneau Reeves role.
Dan Millman is a real person and has written books on spirituality, and enlightenment. Some book titles include The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, and The Journeys of Socrates.
To be honest, this is a movie that we should buy and give as gifts. And, the movie is worth seeing more than once and I will do so one day.
Violence:Not really, Sex: Some scenes actually show make-outs that don't last long, Nudity: No, Language: No