Film Reviews

PEACEFUL WARRIOR You’d have to be either an avid New Ager or willing to see Nick Nolte in absolutely anything to get fully onboard for this visually overexcited tale of salvation-by-gas-station-guru. Yes, that’s right: Based on what is variously described as a novel and a “spiritual memoir” by former gymnast Dan Millman, Peaceful Warrior is a kind of Tuesdays With Morrie for the sporting crowd, with Scott Mechlowicz giving very good hangdog as Dan, a hard-driving Olympic-caliber gymnast and A-student whose recurring nightmares and crippling malaise bring him to the attention of a mechanic whom Dan nicknames Socrates, played by Nolte with hair tamed and combed, which in his case usually bodes ill. Socrates can fly onto roofs, but he will have no truck with the kind of high living that has kept Dan stoked and unhappy for too long, and accordingly makes him over to the tune of slow eating, heavy breathing, and living in the moment. Directed by Victor Salva (uniquely qualified for Buddhist serenity by virtue of his Jeepers Creepers 1 and 2) from a screenplay by Kevin Berhardt, the movie, festooned in slow motion and in-your-face close-ups, rarely has a moment when it’s not calling attention to its booming style. Peaceful Warrior may appeal to those weary of the dark satanic mill of 21st-century workaholism, but the relentless storm of bromides produced in me an altered state of spiritual concussion. (Sunset 5; Monica 4-Plex) (Ella Taylor)

TYPHOON The South Korean techno-thriller Typhoon is best understood as an act of national muscle flexing that sends a “look what we can do” message to the global movie marketplace. The movie is executed by director Kwak Kyung-Taek (Friend) with flair, technical polish and tumescent firepower that the shriveled cinemas of Hong Kong and Japan can no longer match. But every gesture feels synthetic, from the back story about North-South separation to massage the emotions of the home audience, to the 24-style globe-hopping nuclear-terrorism premise. Kwak has pulled together a budget unprecedented for Korea ($15 million) and recruited excellent actors to stand between the camera and the scenery. Pan-Asian superstar Jang Dong-Gun (similarly recruited as box-office insurance by Chen Kaige in The Promise) is the modern-day pirate on the high seas channeling his ill-gotten gains into an operatic act of CGI-enhanced vengeance against an entire nation; Lee Jung-Jae (Il Mare) is his opposite number, a convincingly lean and ferocious superagent. The special-effects and action payoff occurs during an impressively rendered Perfect Typhoon that conveniently wafts away the simplistic morality of a pivotal plot point, in which a shot not taken at a man who threatens the lives of millions is presented without ambiguity as an act of humane forbearance. (AMC Burbank; Fairfax) (David Chute)