I came to the screening of Peaceful Warrior, director Victor Salva's adaptation of former gymnast and self-help writer Dan Millman's 1980 autobiography, Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives (using a screenplay written by Kevin Bernhardt), with mixed feelings. I had seen clips of the film on "Ebert & Roeper" and they seemed a little boring. When I finally saw the movie, I wasn't bored...but I ended up having a different negative reaction. Dan Millman (Scott Mechlowicz) is a UC Berkeley gymnast who has everything going for him. He has no financial worries, he is handsome, talented, has good grades and women flock around him. He also has a chance at Olympic qualifying in men's gymnastics. According to him, however, he feels that he won't make it if he doesn't triple on the rings. This keeps him up at night with nightmares. One night at three in the morning, while going to bed with Dory (Beatrice Rosen), the ex-girlfriend of gymnast Tommy Warner (Ashton Holmes), Dan has one of those nightmares, so he goes out for a run. While running through the foggy darkness, Dan ends up at a brightly lit Texaco gas station with an old man (Nick Nolte) behind the counter. Dan buys some snacks and milk and the man sits on a chair in front of the station door. When Dan looks back, he is surprised to see the man on the roof. The next night, he comes back to find the man to ask him how he did it, and the man begins to explain different philosophies to Dan (but never gets around to telling Dan how he got up there). Dan starts calling him Socrates and he thinks this old gas station owner might be the key to finding a way to win Olympic gold. The next night, Dan meets Joy (Amy Smart), a woman who brings Socrates food and has the same tendency to give self-help advice herself. Meanwhile, Socrates agrees to train Dan, but not before putting him through a regimen that includes eliminating things like junk food, drinking, and sex. He also makes him do Karate Kid wax, things like cleaning the station bathrooms. This new lifestyle change begins to alienate his friends/team members, such as Tommy, Trevor Scott (Paul Wesley), Kyle (B.