I just saw this on rental last night and I was massively and pleasantly surprised that I loved it. I like Sixth Sense (loved it on first viewing but it doesn't hold up), love Unbreakable (with gets better with every viewing, like Tarantino's undervalued Jackie Brown), but Signs was only okay and I hated The Village, dull, obvious. Only redeeming feature was Bryce Dallas Howard who was very good.
So after the BVI blow-up and all the critical drubbing I didn't bother to even go see Lady in the Water, and as someone who averages 150-200 films per year in the cinema you have to be pretty poor to be left out. But i just thought, why bother? But you know what I don't regret it for a moment because i think that lowering of expectations and time removal from both studio hype and critical vitriol helped.
Lady in the Water is a beautiful, lyrical movie. Badly, but not surprising, miss-sold by the studio as a usual Night twisty thriller this is a fairy-tale, like a serious Princess Bride. It easily sweeps you along as a group of mythological archetype characters build a sweet, emotional story. Chris Doyle's haunting cinematography, James Newton Howard's melodic score and pitch perfect performances from a completed invested cast make for a delightful movie.
I can't help but think that this movie made exactly the same but by someone else without Shyamalan's pre-existing reputation would not have been attacked to the same degree. Critics didn't like that he made himself a key actor and that he had a movie critic character in there obviously but more than that I think it's just not a movie you can see with any expectations.
I had none. I had all but forgotten about it but I saw Spider-Man 3 the day before which rekindled my Bryce Dallas love and I thought oh, i'll give Lady a go.
And the performances in this? Howard gets exactly the right mix of strange and intriguing with power and purpose. Jeffrey Wright is wonderful in an understated role. All the ensemble is strong. But Paul Giamatti, wow! He has this one sensational emotional scene in the final act (I won't give spoilers about why, how or what) that is extraordinary. He's heartbreaking. I haven't cried in a movie without an animal getting hurt since I was a child but his power genuinely moved me to tears, I was so invested in the man.
Give it a chance. It won't be for everyone. It's really a very indie sensibility movie hiding in the guise of a studio thriller. It's a fairy-tale, literally as it says "a bedtime story" and should be approached in that manner. Try and forget its Shyamalan, that's the only way.
So after the BVI blow-up and all the critical drubbing I didn't bother to even go see Lady in the Water, and as someone who averages 150-200 films per year in the cinema you have to be pretty poor to be left out. But i just thought, why bother? But you know what I don't regret it for a moment because i think that lowering of expectations and time removal from both studio hype and critical vitriol helped.
Lady in the Water is a beautiful, lyrical movie. Badly, but not surprising, miss-sold by the studio as a usual Night twisty thriller this is a fairy-tale, like a serious Princess Bride. It easily sweeps you along as a group of mythological archetype characters build a sweet, emotional story. Chris Doyle's haunting cinematography, James Newton Howard's melodic score and pitch perfect performances from a completed invested cast make for a delightful movie.
I can't help but think that this movie made exactly the same but by someone else without Shyamalan's pre-existing reputation would not have been attacked to the same degree. Critics didn't like that he made himself a key actor and that he had a movie critic character in there obviously but more than that I think it's just not a movie you can see with any expectations.
I had none. I had all but forgotten about it but I saw Spider-Man 3 the day before which rekindled my Bryce Dallas love and I thought oh, i'll give Lady a go.
And the performances in this? Howard gets exactly the right mix of strange and intriguing with power and purpose. Jeffrey Wright is wonderful in an understated role. All the ensemble is strong. But Paul Giamatti, wow! He has this one sensational emotional scene in the final act (I won't give spoilers about why, how or what) that is extraordinary. He's heartbreaking. I haven't cried in a movie without an animal getting hurt since I was a child but his power genuinely moved me to tears, I was so invested in the man.
Give it a chance. It won't be for everyone. It's really a very indie sensibility movie hiding in the guise of a studio thriller. It's a fairy-tale, literally as it says "a bedtime story" and should be approached in that manner. Try and forget its Shyamalan, that's the only way.