Editing Powder (1995)

{{Short description|1995 American film by Victor Salva}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Powder
| image          = Powder poster.jpg
| caption        = Home video release poster
| director       = [[Victor Salva]]
| producer       = [[Roger Birnbaum]]<br>[[Daniel Grodnik]]
| writer         = Victor Salva
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[Mary Steenburgen]]
* [[Sean Patrick Flanery]]
* [[Lance Henriksen]]
* [[Jeff Goldblum]]
}}
| cinematography = [[Jerzy Zieliński (cinematographer)|Jerzy Zieliński]]
| music          = [[Jerry Goldsmith]]
| editing        = Dennis M. Hill
| studio         = [[Hollywood Pictures]]<br>[[Caravan Pictures]]<br>[[Roger Birnbaum|Roger Birnbaum Productions]]<br>[[Daniel Grodnik|Daniel Grodnik Productions]]
| distributor    = [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Pictures Distribution]]
| released       = {{Film date|1995|10|27}}
| runtime        = 111 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $9.5 million
| gross          = $30.9 million
}}

'''''Powder''''' is a 1995 American [[Science fiction film|science fiction]] [[drama film]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://variety.com/1995/film/reviews/powder-2-1200443190/ | title=Powder | date=30 October 1995 }}</ref> written and directed by [[Victor Salva]] and starring [[Sean Patrick Flanery]] in the title role, with [[Jeff Goldblum]], [[Mary Steenburgen]], [[Lance Henriksen]], and [[Bradford Tatum]] in supporting roles.

The film is about Jeremy "Powder" Reed, who has an incredible intellect, as well as [[telepathy]] and [[paranormal]] powers like controlling lightning and magnetism. It questions the limits of the human mind and body while also displaying society's capacity for cruelty, and raises hope that humanity will advance to a state of better understanding. Its filming locations were around suburbs of [[Houston]], [[San Antonio]], and [[Austin, Texas]].

The film was a financial success, but critical reviews were mixed and the film's release was dogged with controversy due to Salva's prior conviction for child sex abuse.

==Plot==
Jeremy "Powder" Reed is a young [[Albinism in humans|albino]] man who has incredible intellect and is able to sense the thoughts of the people around him. Jeremy's brain possesses a powerful [[Electromagnetism|electromagnetic]] charge, which causes electrical objects to function abnormally when he is around them, particularly when he becomes emotional. The electromagnetic charge also prevents hair from growing on his body.

Jeremy's mother was struck by lightning while pregnant with him; she died shortly after the strike, but Jeremy survived. His father disowned him shortly after his premature birth, and he was raised by his grandparents. Jeremy lived in the basement and worked on their farm, never leaving their property and learning everything he knew from books. He is taken from his home when his grandfather is found dead of natural causes. Jessie Caldwell, a child services psychologist, takes him to a [[Orphanage|boys' home]] because he is now effectively a [[Ward (law)|ward]] of the state.

Jessie enrolls him in high school, where Jeremy meets [[physics]] teacher Donald Ripley. Donald finds out that Jeremy has [[supernatural]] powers as well as the highest [[IQ]] in history. While his abilities mark him as special, they also make him an [[Social stigma|outcast]].

On a hunting trip with his schoolmates, Jeremy is threatened with a gun by John Box, an aggressive student who views him as a freak. Before John can fire, a gun goes off in the distance, and everyone rushes to see that Harley Duncan, a Sheriff's deputy, has shot a doe. Anguished by the animal's impending death, Jeremy touches both the deer and Harley at the same time, inducing in Harley what the students assume is a seizure. Harley later admits that Jeremy had actually caused him to feel the pain and fear of the dying deer. Because of the experience, Harley removes all of his guns from his house, although Sheriff Doug Barnum allows him to remain as a sheriff's deputy without a sidearm.

Doug enlists Jeremy to help speak to his dying wife through [[telepathy]]. Through Jeremy, the sheriff learns that his wife clings onto life because she did not want to die while not wearing her wedding ring and without him reconciling with his estranged son, Steven. She tells him that Steven found the ring and that it has been sitting in a silver box on her nightstand the entire time. Doug then places the ring on his wife's finger and reconciles with Steven, letting his wife die peacefully.

Jeremy meets Lindsey Kelloway, a romantic interest, but their relationship is broken by Lindsey's father. Before the interruption, he tells Lindsey that he can see the truth about people: that they are scared and feel disconnected from the rest of the world but in truth are all connected to everything that exists.

Jeremy goes back to the juvenile facility and packs away his belongings, planning to run away to his farm. He pauses in the gym to stare at a male student washing, noticing the latter's luxurious head of hair as well as body hair which he himself lacks, and is caught at it by John Box, who accuses him of homosexuality. John steals Jeremy's hat and taunts him, but Jeremy reveals that John's words mimic what his stepfather said before beating him when he was 12, infuriating him. John and the other boys humiliate Jeremy, stripping him naked and taunting him. His powers begin to manifest by pulling at their metal buttons and any piercings. Eventually, a large spherical electromagnetic pulse erupts throwing Jeremy into a mud puddle and everyone else to the ground. John is found still, with his heart stopped. Jeremy uses an electric shock to revive him.

Jeremy returns to the farm where he grew up, now in procession of [[probate]] with the bank, and finds that all of his possessions have been removed. He is joined by Jessie, Donald, and Doug, who urge him to come with them to find a place where he will not be feared and misunderstood. Instead, he runs into a field where a lightning bolt strikes him, and he disappears in a blinding flash of light. The electrical jolt hits Jessie, Donald, Doug, and Harley.

==Cast==
{{Cast listing|
* [[Sean Patrick Flanery]] as Jeremy "Powder" Reed  
* [[Mary Steenburgen]] as Jessie Caldwell
* [[Lance Henriksen]] as Sheriff Doug Barnum  
* [[Jeff Goldblum]] as Donald Ripley  
* Brandon Smith as Deputy Harley Duncan  
* [[Bradford Tatum]] as John Box  
* [[Susan Tyrrell]] as Maxine  
* Melissa Lahlitah Crider as Lindsey Kelloway (as Missy Crider)  
* [[Ray Wise]] as Dr. Aaron Stripler  
* [[Esteban Powell]] as Mitch  
* Reed Frerichs as Skye  
* Chad Cox as Zane  
* Joe Marchman as Brennan  
* Phil Hayes as Greg Reed (as Phillip Maurice Hayes)  
* Danette McMahon as Emma Barnum
* Barry Berfield as Paramedic #1
}}

==Soundtrack==
The film's score was written by [[Jerry Goldsmith]]. Salva personally wanted Goldsmith to score the music of the film because he had been "an enormous fan" of the composer's work.<ref>{{cite web|title=Powder|date=3 June 1998|publisher=[[Filmtracks.com]]|url=http://www.filmtracks.com/titles/powder.html|access-date=20 July 2015}}</ref>

==Reception==
''Powder'' received generally mixed reviews from critics. On [[Rotten Tomatoes]] it has a rating of 50% based on 20 reviews, with an average rating of 5.2/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "''Powder'' has some interesting and potentially affecting ideas, but they're ultimately dust in the wind of a drama that strains far too obviously for uplift."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/powder/|title = Powder|website = [[Rotten Tomatoes]]}}</ref>

Caryn James of ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the film as "lethally dull" with Goldblum's dry humor offering the only tolerable moments in the film. "This intensely self-important film has no idea how absurd and unconvincing it is."<ref>{{cite news|last=James|first=Caryn|title=Powder (1995)|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9900EFDE1F39F934A15753C1A963958260|access-date=May 15, 2011|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=October 27, 1995}}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] gave the film two stars out of a possible four. He criticized numerous [[plot holes]] and asserted that Flanery's makeup made him resemble a [[mime]] more than an albino. He wrote: "'Powder' has all of the elements of a successful fantasy, and none of the insights. It's a movie where intriguing ideas lie there on the screen, jumbled and unrealized. It leads up to [[bathos]], not [[pathos]], because not enough attention was paid to the underlying truth of the characters. They're all just pawns for the plot gimmicks."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/powder-1995|title=Powder Movie Review & Film Summary (1995) - Roger Ebert|first=Roger|last=Ebert|website=www.rogerebert.com}}</ref>

==Controversy==
The film's production by Disney resulted in a controversy over the choice of writer-director [[Victor Salva]], who had been convicted of [[Child sexual abuse|molesting]] a 12-year-old child actor during the production of his directorial debut film, ''[[Clownhouse]]'' (1988). He was sentenced to three years' imprisonment and released after 15 months. Disney officials reported that they learned of Salva's crime only after production of ''Powder'' had begun, and stressed that there were no minors on the set for the film.<ref name="Welkos">{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-10-25-me-60848-story.html|title=Disney Movie's Director a Convicted Child Molester: Hollywood: He says, 'I paid for my mistakes dearly', but victim of incident several years ago urges boycott of 'Powder'.|last=Welkos|first=Robert|date=25 October 1995|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=6 March 2015}}</ref> When ''Powder'' was released, the victim, Nathan Forrest Winters, came forward again in an attempt to get others to boycott the film in protest of Disney's hiring Salva.<ref name="Welkos"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0114168}}
* {{Mojo title|powder}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|powder}}
* {{TCMDb title|87001}}

{{Victor Salva}}

[[Category:1995 films]]
[[Category:Hollywood Pictures films]]
[[Category:Caravan Pictures films]]
[[Category:1995 drama films]]
[[Category:American science fiction films]]
[[Category:Disney controversies]]
[[Category:Films set in Houston]]
[[Category:Films shot in Houston]]
[[Category:Albinism in popular culture]]
[[Category:Films directed by Victor Salva]]
[[Category:Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith]]
[[Category:Films produced by Roger Birnbaum]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]