Very Simple Film

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2003)

Well, I can't say that the film is as good as his previous work. I still feel "Unbreakable" was his best film. I did think the plot to this was very weak and predictable and not at all as good as his other efforts, but something about how simple this was appealed to me. I love that it's slow and takes it's time. I truly enjoyed the characters and came to care about them. It frustrates me that it fell so short when it had such potential. Phoenix was excellent in this and pretty much stole the show. Also the little boy played by Rory Culkin was very good and a much better actor than his older brother. The little girl was adorable and I really enjoyed the touch of her obsession with water. Gibson did a good job and it was nice to see him in a role were he wasn't the almighty hero with all the answers. In this he was a broken man who really didn't know how to handle the situation. His weakness was scorned by his children. I think there were strong performances from everyone even the local cop who I thought was fantastic. If you can get around the sub-plot of the aliens it's a very nice film. That's right I said sub-plot. The main point isn't about regaining faith either. The main point is that events in our lives happen for reasons we couldn't comprehend, but they happen for a reason. For people bent out shape over the religious aspects I just have to say get over it. It was a very simple film with a simple message. I enjoyed it and the people in the audience with me seemed to enjoy it enough to clap at the end. Although not everyone applauded I think we all got more than our money's worth. (50 cents)