Peaceful Warrior movie review (2006)

The story arc of "Peaceful Warrior" is so familiar that in addition to being inspired by fact, it is inspired by at least two-thirds of all the sports movies ever made. To quote myself (this situation has come up before): I can't give away the ending, because it gives itself away. Oddly enough, it's not the plausible stuff like the gymnastics that fascinates me in the story, but the mystery of Socrates. Does Socrates even exist? Is his gas station really there? If Dan bought himself a Baby Ruth from the candy machine, could he eat it? Of course these questions betray me as hopelessly focused on realism.

Sometimes in an imperfect movie there is consolation simply in regarding the actors. You possibly have the impression that Nick Nolte has been in a lot of commercial hits and is, or was until recently, an action star. But run his name through IMDb.com, and you'll discover that he is, and essentially always has been, an art-film actor. Yes, he had some big hits, but "48 HRS" was a breakthrough at the time, and when he does a superhero epic, it's the inventive "Hulk" by Ang Lee.

Nolte has been through some hard times, and posed for at least one mug shot that went around the world. He has picked himself up and patched himself back together, and is convincing as a wise survivor. A movie based on his life might have the same parabola as Millman's, if you substituted drinking for gymnastics. There is a sense in which the role of Socrates speaks to him more loudly than to Dan, and that sense makes the performance sort of fascinating.

All the rest is formula: The coach, the team, the training, the accident, the comeback. The fact that doubles and visual effects are used for some of the gymnastics stunts is obvious, but not objectionable, because of course they are. But it's funny, isn't it, how the most amazing stunt in the movie is performed off-screen. How did he get up there?