SHYAMALAN COMES FULL CIRCLE.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic DESPITE ITS ``War of the Worlds'' setup, M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, ``Signs,'' is much more concerned with exploring the ideas of faith and belief than it is with alien crop circles. The movie is a superbly constructed sci-fi thriller that falters only at the end when Shyamalan should have trusted his audience instead of grandstanding his technique. Those put off by the funereal fu·ne·re·al adj. 1. Of or relating to a funeral. 2. Appropriate for or suggestive of a funeral; mournful: funereal gloom. pace of Shyamalan's last movie, ``Unbreakable,'' should find welcome relief in the tense ``Signs.'' Shyamalan takes more chances here and shows that he can move beyond his fondness for uninterrupted takes into territory that gives his material room to breathe and cast its menacing spell. The biggest surprise is that the man who made ``The Sixth Sense'' actually has a sense of humor Noun 1. sense of humor - the trait of appreciating (and being able to express) the humorous; "she didn't appreciate my humor"; "you can't survive in the army without a sense of humor" sense of humour, humor, humour , which he expertly uses throughout the movie to diffuse tension and alter the mood. You won't find any of those moments in the first 10 minutes of the movie, though. ``Signs'' opens with James Howard James Howard can refer to:
It seems things aren't quite right at the farm of Graham Hess (Mel Gibson Noun 1. Mel Gibson - Australian actor (born in the United States in 1956) Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, Gibson U.S.A., United States, United States of America, US, USA, America, the States, U.S. ). Graham, a former minister, lives in rural Pennsylvania with his two children (Rory Culkin Rory Hugh Culkin (born July 21, 1989) is an American actor. Culkin began acting by playing alongside his elder brothers, amongst them Macaulay and Kieran, often as the younger versions of their characters. , Abigail Breslin) and his younger brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix). Graham's wife was killed a few months ago in a horrible accident. As a result, Graham has renounced his faith, and although he seems calm on the surface, the man is on the verge On the Verge (or The Geography of Yearning) is a play written by Eric Overmyer. It makes extensive use of esoteric language and pop culture references from the late nineteenth century to 1955. of a nervous breakdown nervous breakdown n. A severe or incapacitating emotional disorder, especially when occurring suddenly and marked by depression. nervous breakdown . So the last thing Graham needs is a crop circle in the middle of his cornfield. But that's what happens. Who left it there and whether that entity is still hanging around in the cornfield (is there a more menacing place in movies?) remains to be seen, and Shyamalan will indeed reveal all in good time. Meanwhile, what he really wants to know is whether Graham can be a good father, not to mention a functioning human being, without any kind of faith in his life. Shyamalan again displays an uncanny ability to draw mesmerizing mes·mer·ize tr.v. mes·mer·ized, mes·mer·iz·ing, mes·mer·iz·es 1. To spellbind; enthrall: "He could mesmerize an audience by the sheer force of his presence" performances from child actors. Just as in ``The Sixth Sense'' and ``Unbreakable,'' the children here are the ones who can see and feel things that adults (in this case, the father) have forgotten. That is both a blessing and a curse, because usually these children have to go through hell in order to communicate the extraordinary to their elders. It's a much more emotional journey than what Shyamalan has given us in his past two movies, and Gibson, stepping in for Bruce Willis, is the perfect actor to take us on the trip. Shyamalan draws upon Gibson's long-standing ability to convey wounded men seething seethe intr.v. seethed, seeth·ing, seethes 1. To churn and foam as if boiling. 2. a. To be in a state of turmoil or ferment: with unexpressed rage; in this case, it's a man who can barely function because he has acknowledged all the sorrow and pain in his soul. Gibson's work is as spellbinding spell·bind tr.v. spell·bound , spell·bind·ing, spell·binds To hold under or as if under a spell; enchant or fascinate. [Back-formation from spellbound. as anything in the movie. Now for my one complaint. For a movie about faith, Shyamalan shows a surprising lack of confidence in his audience at the end, when it comes time to put two and two together. Here, Shyamalan falters under the weight of his technique, and he stumbles. It's as if Shyamalan believes that he has to deliver some kind of twist - and make sure that the audience sees it and knows it - in order for ``Signs'' to be an ``M. Night Shyamalan Manoj Nelliattu Shyamalan (born August 6, 1970), known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, /'ʃæ.mæ.lɔːn Movie.'' Fact is, he's a good enough filmmaker not to need any gimmicks. But Shyamalan is going to have to realize that before his next movie, otherwise he'll have painted himself into a corner, making movies that conform to audiences' expectations and not the other way around. SIGNS - Three and one half stars (PG-13: some frightening moments) Starring: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix. Director: M. Night Shyamalan. Running time :1 hr. 47 min. Playing: Wide release. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Cherry Jones, left, and Mel Gibson try to make sense out of some large- scale geometry in the taut thriller ``Signs.'' |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion