fmwongmd The magic realism is there. Whether you believe it or not it is a convenient way to introduce the authors beliefs . I found the movie entertaining and worthwhile although certainly not original.

Sledge Hammer Admirable attempt in introducing the watcher to the main teachings of The Buddha, but with a serious dose of Dan Millman style. Basically, this movie is a cinematographic version of what Dan Millman understood from the zen Mahayana Buddhism, through the good will of a man that he calls "Socrates", interpreted quite good by ol' Nick. Not with a lack of a nice touch, if I'm not mistaking. Anyway, this is the reference after a short notice to the subject, and 10 years later from it. This teachings are quite "cool" among occidentals, especially when renamed the "peaceful warrior way". U can make a decent movie out of this, and also a movie that holds a seed of some great meaning, that if planted will generate positive reactions in peoples minds. And it did. Just scrolling the user reviews, u get a obvious "hint" that the movie will not be a waste of time. The only serious prerequisite for this movie to make any sense and be somewhat fun to watch, is not to be a proselyte of any kind by that matter (even a atheist one). The message is the only thing this movie is all about at any given time. Shure u can rub your chin in a "unshaved manner" about the whole plot and etc., but as long as u keep in mind that the only thing that made this movie a real project, is the simple idea that backs up the whole story ... and that is the peaceful warrior way of Dan Millman.Enjoy, all you that bare in mind the present.

smxs Just an awesome and inspirational movie it was, I think! Dan Millman (Scott Mechlowicz) a college student, a gymnast, a dreamer who has everything. Then one night at a gas station he met a strange Socratic look a like person (Millman called him Socrates), whose amazing control of physical tricks amazed him well. But he couldn't take that Socrates questioned his lac-ability though his performance is good...In time Millman learned many things about the prospects of our life and also where humans do not let themselves to go furthermore. Despite having so much physical limit(injury) his astounding performance in the end of the movie blinked in the eyes of his coach, teammates and the commentators. Such a BEAUTY. Let not forget the most important lesson from this movie, forget the pressure Just live the moment.

francogrex Note: This review does not reveal specific details, but it may reveal the overall storyline and especially the way the movie may end. I am confused as to where I should place this movie: it has a great message embedded in the teachings of the "Socrates" character and in the interactions between the protagonist and Socrates, but the storyline is poor, predictable and "americanized" in the sense that the actions of the protagonist, especially towards how the plot develops towards the end goes against the core of the teaching and the message it is trying to convey. It's as if they hijacked a noble message and twisted it enough to apply it in a wrong way to a poor purpose and a mediocre ending. Therefore I will give it a 6. Another related point, in the recommendations of IMDb "People who liked this also liked..." they provide suggestions for other movies like "The Notebook" and "Pride and Prejudice"... what do those movies have in common? I advise IMDb to revise and make amendments to this program because it is quite flawed overall (not just for this movie). There are much better algorithms to enable finding similar movies, the one used now is quite useless. I honestly prefer to view the lists the other users have written (when they are available) to get good recommendations.