PEACEFUL WARRIOR
In one man's real-life war within, all the right moves
to a higher path
PopcornReel.com Film Review: "Peaceful Warrior"
By Omar P.L. Moore/June 1, 2006
Student and mentor: Scott Mechlowicz and Nick Nolte in Victor Salva's "Peaceful
Warrior". Amy Smart (center) as Joy, and Mr. Mechlowicz. (Photos:
Chuck Zlotnick)
"Peaceful Warrior" is the absorbing and
inspiring true story of Dan Millman, a gymnast who in real life overcame a
serious motorcycle accident injury and went on to help win the state-wide
championship for his school, the University of California at Berkeley. One of
the great revelations is that during his painful experience Mr. Millman gained a
great wealth of spiritual insight that he credits with his amazing recovery from
a shattered right leg. He has written over two dozen books including "Way
of the Peaceful Warrior," upon which director Victor Salva's film is based.
Before the horrific accident, Dan (played by Scott Mechlowicz) is a brash,
arrogant athlete. He gets the ladies into his bed with relative ease, and
during one such escapade asks a young lady: "if I didn't have a body like this,
would you be into me?" The young lady replies with the very same question.
Dan routinely shows off his ability to balance beers off his the soles of his
feet while doing push-ups standing upside down. Simply put, Dan
exemplifies confidence to overcome anyone and any obstacle. Yet in the
clarity of darkness he has disturbing nightmares about disintegrating at the
conclusion of a pressure-packed gymnastics competition. After several
sleepless nights he ventures out on a midnight run and meets a white-bearded
Santa Claus-like grandfatherly figure in the persona of Nick Nolte, who plays an
unnamed character Dan flippantly calls Socrates. Socrates has a choice
name for Dan in return.
The relationship between Dan and Socrates is the strongest part of the film,
more so than the story's actual finishing point -- the point where we know Dan
will be by the time "Peaceful Warrior" concludes. In fact, we don't even
get to see that point in Mr. Salva's film, which plays just like a
process itself -- the journey is the best part -- something Socrates tells Dan
during his training. The doubting, fearful Dan has plenty of reservations
about Socrates -- the man whom he saw on the ground of the gas station where he
provides "service" -- and only a second later sees on the roof of that station.
There is no question however, that Dan is fascinated by this episode.
After uneasily refraining from all of the "vices" that Socrates enumerates --
sex, bad eating, alcohol -- the hard-training Dan appears to be heading for
glory. When this routine of discipline becomes less than gratifying
however, Dan turns Fleetwood Mac and goes his own way -- which literally puts
him on a fast lane to hospital.
"Saw your face...said I'm not a believer...": Tim Dekay as Coach Garrick.
Getting strong now: Mr. Mechlowicz is lord of the rings. (Photos: Chuck
Zlotnick)
Dan's college gymnastics teammates, who have been
estranged by Dan's cockiness and aloof behavior have their own doubts about
whether they themselves are cut out for the big-time athletic contests, as
depicted in a scene where the mystical Nolte character engages Dan in
mind-reading. Dan's gymnastics coach (Tim Dekay) has at best a wavering
belief in him and becomes one of the biggest naysayers when Dan goes through
some of the roughest trials and tribulations in life.
The chemstry between Mr. Nolte and Mr. Mechlowicz is pitch perfect. As
mentor and student they have an authentic give-and-take, push-and-pull, yin and
yang, which accompanies the spiritual lessons that Socrates feeds Dan about
learning to be a better person by living a better life. Rather than any
heavy-handed or serious preaching about spiritual growth and well-being,
"Peaceful Warrior" demonstrates through many humorous sequences how living in
the "now" and not in the past or the future is the ultimate key to happiness and
success. There are minimal but important visual effects which also bring
the spiritual aspects of the story into sharper focus. "Peaceful Warrior"
takes its message seriously but is able to have plenty of fun along the way.
Mr. Nolte is very good here in a supporting role that merits an Oscar
nomination. We don't know anything about his character, only that he has
presumably mentored Joy (Amy Smart), another athlete at Berkeley. The fact
we know little of his character's origins may indeed signal that he is a voice
of conscience in Dan's head, although one sequence may go a little way towards
dispelling this notion. Mr. Nolte conveys the role of spiritual sage in a
measured and mellowed fashion. He never over-dramatizes nor underplays his part,
and all the while he convinces us, making his character a friendly neighborhood
salesman of sorts. There is one hilarious scene where this salesman get up
works to a tee, during an encounter with three young men whom Socrates is
convinced "need love the most."
Oscar?: Nick Nolte as Socrates; Ashton Holmes (left) as Tommy Warner, with Scott Mechlowicz as Dan Millman, in "Peaceful Warrior", based on Mr. Millman's book. (Photos: Chuck Zlotnick)
The interactions between Mr. Nolte and Mr. Mechlowicz are more in the mould of
the ones that Paul Newman and Tom Cruise shared in "The Color of Money", rather
than those that the late Pat Morita and Ralph Macchio enjoyed in the "Karate
Kid" films. In fact, Mr. Mechlowicz, who is good here as Dan Millman,
looks a little like the Tom Cruise of 25 years ago who appeared as the high
school quarterback in "All the Right Moves."
As with the character of Socrates, Kevin Berhardt's script spends no time
telling us about Dan's parents or much else about his background. The
film's dialogue is very natural with lines such as "sometimes you have to have
to lose your mind in order to make sense," and "you think more than you know."
These lines and a litany of others are spoken in a mild, effortless cadence by
Mr. Nolte, and nearly all of them bring much laughter.
Mr. Salva doesn't allow Mr. Nolte's star power or Mr. Mechlowicz's pretty-boy
looks to submerge or overwhelm the story. The pacing of the film is
pedestrian, which works to its advantage. Always, it is a huge challenge
to adapt a book into a feature film, as Dan Brown and Ron Howard can attest to
with the recent "Da Vinci Code", but here Mr. Salva and Mr. Berhardt do well to
convey some of the things that Mr. Millman's book addresses and discusses.
With a two-hour running time, "Peaceful Warrior" unfolds at a leisurely pace
without stagnating. The book "Way of the Peaceful Warrior" has inspired
millions of people and the film is likely to enjoy a solid following as it
travels around the United States and beyond.
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