"Peaceful Warrior" Directed by: Victor Salva Starring Nick Nolte, Scott Mechlowicz, Amy Smart MPAA rating: PG-13 Running time: 120 minutes Best suited for: feel-good enthusiasts, eternal optimists, New Age junkies Least suited for: the preenlightened, Dalai Lama wannabes

Acorn's Guide for those: seeking a spiritual lift:

The inspirational film has always walked a tightrope over an unforgiving abyss. For such a film to deliver its message without resorting to insipid moralizing or melodrama is rare. And to meander into the metaphysical realm- well, that's absolutely begging for trouble.

I, for one, hate to be hammered over the head by somebody's idea of enlightenment when that vision may be nowhere close to serving my needs. The recent mainstream effort "I - Huckabees," attempting to wrap its message in a silly sugar coating, lost me within five minutes. Even the nobler effort "What the Bleep Do We Know?" tried too hard to make me feel good, burying relevant information inside a happy-faced package that didn't completely deliver.

With "Peaceful Warrior," the inspirational/metaphysical genre may have finally found a footing in our modern Western world. While rooted in a misunderstood philosophy that questions the nature of reality, the film is also a coming-of-age fable that smartly sidesteps today's schlocky feelgood psychology. There are a couple of transitional gaps in the story and a few improbable moments, but these are delivered saccharine-free, without fanfare or the trumpeting of angels. The film succeeds in its depiction of a brash young man whose shattered life is both repaired and enlightened through an unlikely connection with a soul far wiser than his own. Based on the best-selling 25-year-old autobiographical novel by Dan Millman, "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior," the film packs an emotional wallop in cleverly subtle ways.

Scott Mechlowicz nicely plays a breezy, brash Millman, a competitive Cal Berkeley gymnast with an eye on winning a slot in the upcoming summer Olympics. The young Millman is self-absorbed and ego-shrouded-a typical adolescent in many ways-but one whose self-doubt is assuaged in drinking binges or in bedding nameless coeds drawn to his body or superficially charged ego.

One sleepless night, Millman goes jogging. He happens upon an aging auto mechanic (Nick Nolte), a seemingly innocuous passerby. Yet when the old man appears to magically transport himself to a rooftop-a physical impossibility-the movement-conscious Millman grows curious.

The old man, who Millman unflatteringly nicknames "Socrates," easily senses the gymnast's unspoken fears. Socrates offers to help Millman find his inner peace. Millman, though, is unable to release his ego or bad habits and rejects the old man's advice. When a motorcycle accident shatters the young man's dreams, Millman realizes he's lost control of his destiny, of the perfect life he was certain would follow his gold medals.

Socrates returns to tell Millman that he never had con

trol of his life-only the illusion of control. Thus is born an extraordinary relationship between patient mentor and skeptical student.

An underutilized Amy Smart plays Joy, another of Socrates' pupils, who manages to find in Millman the soul he'd buried long before. (I suspect some of their burgeoning relationship ended up on the cutting room floor. Too bad.) When the doctors tell Millman he'll be lucky to walk again, Socrates suggests that Millman instead listen to his own voice. Inner truth can surprise us all.

What ultimately raises "Peaceful Warrior" high on the bar is director Victor Salva's decision to let the story unfold at its own pace, without resorting to smokeand-mirror or hocus pocus tactics. This isn't a Mr. Miagi/Karate Kid relationship (although there are some subtle thematic similarities), and the young man's incredulity rings true. Even after Millman begins to view Socrates as his mentor, he's never quite certain of the old man's secrets or abilities. But the journey is about discovering wisdom.

In a nutshell: Looking for an unassuming, inspirational message unfettered by its own PR? "Peaceful Warrior" is an exceedingly gifted coming-of-age tale- told with a hint of mysticism. It is a relevant cinematic pick-me-up that can cut through the angst and unnecessary mental static of living day-to-day in an unforgiving world.