Phenomenon

Phenomenon

John Travolta's should've-been-nominated-for-an-Oscar performance is the best reason to see this largely moving work, which is a little reminiscent of the novel Flowers for Algernon (basis for the film Charly). Travolta plays a mechanic who sees a bright light in the sky one night and wakes up the next morning a genius, hungry for knowledge and so smart he figures out national defense secrets in his own living room (and gets in hot water for it). The more interesting drama, however, is not with the government but with the character's longtime neighbors and friends, who come to reject him for being different. Robert Duvall gives a stirring performance as a doctor who has known the hero all his life, and Kyra Sedgwick is very good as an ambivalent love interest. If you missed this one in the theaters, then you haven't seen one of Travolta's best performances since his comeback. The DVD release presents a widescreen image, optional French soundtrack, optional Spanish subtitles, and theatrical trailer. --Tom Keogh

Production: Disney
  7 wins & 8 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.4
Metacritic:
41
Rotten Tomatoes:
50%
PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Year:
1996
123
7,143 Views

Dr. Niedorf:
All right, I'll start the questions, and I'll be timing your responses, and we'll be recording. Any questions?

George:
What's your first name?

Dr. Niedorf:
Uh, my first name is Bob. [George reaches across the wide table to shake hands]

George:
Shoot, Bob.

Dr. Niedorf:
Right. Name as many mammals as you can in 60 seconds. Ready? Go. [starts stopwatch]

George:
Hmm. 60 seconds. Well, how would you like that? How about alphabetical? Aardvark, baboon, caribou, dolphin, eohippus, fox, gorilla, hyena, ibex, jackal, kangaroo, lion, marmoset, Newfoundland, ocelot, panda, rat, sloth, tiger, unicorn, varmint, whale, yak, zebra. Now "varmint" is a stretch; so is "Newfoundland" (that's a dog breed); "unicorn" is mythical, "eohippus" is prehistoric. But you weren't being very specific. Now were you, Bob?

Dr. Niedorf:
[pauses, then stops watch and laughs] Well! Ahh, I'll, uh — I'll try to be more specific. You ready for the next one?

George:
Shoot.

Dr. Niedorf:
Answer as quickly as you can... how old is a person born in 1928? [starts stopwatch]

George:
Man or a woman?

Dr. Niedorf:
[stops stopwatch and pauses] Why?

George:
Specifics, Bob.

Dr. Niedorf:
Okay, one more time. How old is a MAN born in 1928? [starts stopwatch]

George:
Still alive?

Dr. Niedorf:
[stops watch, pauses, nods] If a man is born in 1928, and he's still alive, how old is he? [starts stopwatch]

George:
What month?

Dr. Niedorf:
[stops stopwatch] If a man was born October 3, 1928, and he's still alive, how old is he? [starts stopwatch]

George:
What time?

Dr. Niedorf:
10:00... PM! [starts stopwatch]

George:
Where?

Dr. Niedorf:
[stops stopwatch; now impatient] Anywhere!

George:
Well. Let's get specific, Bob! I mean, if the guy's still alive, born in California, October 3, 1928, 10:00 PM. he 67 years, 9 months, 22 days, 14 hours, and... [takes Bob's hand to see his wristwatch] ...and 12 minutes. If he was born in New York, he's 3 hours older, now isn't he?

[George goes to the bar after his tests]

Banes:
What did they find out?

George:
I'm pregnant. That's how it feels. [Roger smirks]

Roger:
How what feels?

George:
Yeah, you know, to be full of ideas and you can't deliver, okay? I mean, you know, you're ready to break out and you can't deliver. You know, uh, this professor, he won't even talk to me. He won't even talk to me.

Nate Pope:
You're not going to Berkeley, George?

George:
Oh, come on. Me, at Berkeley? That's a thought, huh?

Nate:
I'm sorry, buddy.

Jimmy:
You mean, inventions? You got inventions?

George:
No, no. Ideas, okay? I get a thousand ideas a day, every d-damn minute. Okay? I got big, big, holy cow kind of ideas and, and little what if ideas. All right? Hey, I got ideas for you, Jimmy. Look at this. Look at this. Your parking lot- [shows papers] it's laid out all wrong, okay? Now, if you just follow this, right, you can put six more cars in and no one gets fender benders. All right? Where's Paulette? Where is she? Bonnie, here. Take this. [slides papers to her] This is a new route for our mail. Okay? Now, if she does this, she can save an hour a day and everybody gets their mail by three o'clock. Imagine, three o'clock. Oh, and l got a holy sh*t idea too. Look at this. [shows Jimmy diagram on legal pad] Now this may be the most efficient way to store solar energy. Okay? Take it.

Jimmy:
Well, what am I gonna do with it?

George:
What the hell am I supposed to do with it, huh? You know what that light was? You know what that sound was?

Jimmy:
Tell us.

George:
I'm gonna tell you what it was.

Jimmy:
Well, tell us!

Banes:
It was a damn alien.

Nate:
Don't say that. You don't know what it was.

George:
I know what it is, Nate.

Nate:
You don't know what it was. Don't say that.

Jimmy:
Well, tell us!

George:
It's a GODDAMN mistake, is what it is! Okay? It was supposed to happen to someone smart, someone that's scientific, someone who is a leader. But it didn't. It happened to me, George freakin' Malley. Look at him. Now look at him. Look! [his psychic powers slightly break the glass panel at the bar and Jimmy heads for cover]


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