Monday, July 24, 2006

Lady in the Water

Cleveland Heep has been quietly trying to disappear among the burned-out light bulbs and broken appliances of the Cove apartment complex. But on the night that irrevocably changes his life, Cleveland finds someone else hiding in the mundane routine of this modest building--a mysterious young woman named Story, who has been living in the passageways beneath the building's swimming pool.

"A bedtime story" is a great tagline for this film. From the very beginning we are thrust into a world where make-believe comes true and good creatures need our help to protect them from the evil. M. Night may be arrogant and think more highly of himself than he deserves (he's not another Hitchcock), but this movie is, in my opinion, one of his best. Ever since the Sixth Sense, he has been expected to put a twist in every film he makes. Yes, it worked great for Sixth Sense but I've always hoped to see M. Night as more than just a one-trick pony. Lady in the Water solidifies my opinion that M. Night has, not only a good director's eye, but also an incredible imagination. Make no mistake, Paul Giamatti as Cleveland Heap carries this film. Bryce Dallas Howard is great, but Giamatti makes you really care about what happens, humanizes the experience and helps you feel what he feels. Without Giamatti this film wouldn't have been even nearly as good.

The PG-13 rating is almost completely for "frightening images" and it's well deserved. The Scrunts (the wolf-like animals), are extremely frightening. That part of the bedtime story may give little ones nightmares.

Why is this movie getting such bad reviews? It couldn't possibly be because M. Night Shyamalan portrays a movie reviewer as being out-of-touch, arrogant and stupid could it? While the film isn't as good as it could be because of M. Night's insistence to put himself as a major character (a very distracting choice), this is a solid fairy tale that I really enjoyed. I hope all of M. Night's films continue to be as good as this one.

4.4 out of 5

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