Movie Reflections - Mindwalk When a young Sam Waterston -- who has been a star in the television series Law & Order for years -- playing a U.S. Senator (named Jack) who has presidential ambitions, and his poet American expatriate friend Thomas (played by John Heard), open the movie, it moves very slowly. The viewer who may have been hoping for some action may well be disappointed because it is clearly an intellectual film. That said, some of the chit-chat in the opening and through much of the film comes across as trite and even pretentious. Clearly, some of the dialogue comes off as cliched and platitudinous.

Of course the intention of director Bernt Capra was to bring characters together from disparate backgrounds and points-of-view, and to give the audience things to think about. And as the film progresses, for those paying close attention to the dialogue, there are things said that cause ears to perk up and thoughts to swirl around in minds. And the viewer that hasn't read the book from which this movie was launched ("The Turning Point") may wonder why three people (including Sonia, played by Lv Ullman) happen to stumble into each other in front of a cathedral on an island offshore from France....

The reason they met isn't important; what they discuss is important to the substance of the film.
Let's be frank: this film isn't going to be appreciated by a politically conservative person with a limited education. That person is not going to be terribly interested in subjects like "the nature of light," or "vast regions of empty space," or even Jack's narrative about how bringing changes to the voting public is never easy. It is interesting that Jack bemoans the fact that people haven't accepted climate change. That dialogue is a foreshadowing of the fact that many U.S. citizens still do not accept climate change 26 years after the film was released. The most interesting parts of the film is when Jack challenges Sonia on her scientific theories. She is comfortable talking holistically about how all systems (social systems, ecological systems, etc.) are related; but Jack, the pragmatist, wonders, "How can you talk about a tree without also talking about its roots, leaves and bark?" It comes down to the chicken and the egg, but in fairness, Sonia's narrative is insightful and worthy, while the two men struggle to come to terms with her…