Reviews

I went to see M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" today.

First things first... I won't even discuss a SINGLE aspect of the plot, here, so you can read this safely. I will say this: If you plan to see the movie, do not read a single review (besides mine!). As with most of Shyamalan's films, the less you know about the plot going in, the better.

As far as the quality of the film... it is solid. Beautifully directed, well acted, dramatic, scary, sometimes funny, and with some great plot twists. It is not as good as "The Sixth Sense", but it's probably not fair to keep comparing Shyamalan's work to his first big hit, one of the best psychological horror films ever made. A director could work his entire career and never make a SINGLE film as good as "The Sixth Sense", let alone recapture that movie's amazing brilliance.

But, I hear you asking, is "The Village" better than "Unbreakable" and "Signs" (Shyamalan's second and third films)??? Well, that depends on what you thought of those films. Personally, I'd probably say that it is a better film than those two. At the very least it is more sophisticated, with stronger themes, a much bigger and better cast, and more subtle surprises than in those two films.

"The Village" continues Shyamalan's pattern of there being twists in the plot, but this time there are SEVERAL of them and they occur sporadically throughout the film... not one big one at the end. You WILL be surprised by the film, but don't expect to be bowled over.

I would describe this as his most subtle film, and also as more of a character study than a horror film. The characters here are very rich, and their interactions and relationships with one another are very rewarding in big and small ways. The acting is phenomenal, most noticeably by Academy Award winner Adrian Brody and Joaquin Phoenix. But first time actress Bryce Dallas Howard (Ron Howard's daughter), William Hurt and Sigourney Weaver all give solid performances as well.

"The Village" is a character study of how a community and individuals respond under pressure and fear. And while it has elements of horror, I'm not even sure I would describe it as a horror film.

But don't get me wrong, there are some real scary moments in the film... just don't go in expecting a roller coaster ride. While I was watching it, I kept thinking about some of the better episodes of The Twilight Zone that had a few thrills but left you thinking about human nature more than anything.

Go see "The Village", but bring someone with you.

A wonderful horror/suspense film that transcends the genre. How often does a movie come out that takes a long-established and even cliched genre and turn it on its ear? I can think of only a few in the last two decades, including "Pulp Fiction" which changed how we look at crime films and "Die Hard" which did the same for action films. Well, "The Sixth Sense" is one of these rare movies, and it will change how you look at ghost stories forever. (And, interestingly enough, Bruce Willis is in all three of these films! Weird, huh?) I won't reveal much of the plot here, since the less you know about the film going in, the better. But I will say that it involves ghosts; the film has a clearly defined idea of what a ghost is, exactly, and that idea is crucial to the plot of the film... which involves the relationship between a child psychologist (Willis) and a little boy who has a very big problem. "The Sixth Sense" is slowly and deliberately paced (though never boring), is filled with both heart-breaking moments and knowing humor, reveals plot through character development and subtle directing instead of through heavy-handed manipulation of the audience like most horror films, and manages to horrify without dumb "shock"-moments and a minimum of gore. The acting by everyone here is uniformly superb, especially by Haley Joel Osment, a child-actor who plays the main character and who is dead-on perfect in scene after scene after scene. The quiet moments between him and an equally superb Bruce Willis are beautifully written, funny, sad, quirky and original. And the movie builds to an incredible ending that will leave your head spinning, guaranteed. A true classic.