A big commercial package, engrossing and sometimes hugely entertaining

Rating: 7/10 (17 June 2006)

A widowed ex-minister in Pennsylvania, living on a farm with his kids and his ex-ball player brother, believes the crop circles on his land (as well as the ones profiled on the news) may be indicative of something other-worldly. Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan, who understands commercial movie-making these days as well as any other filmmaker, tends to get bogged down in pretensions, but where his dialogue is sometimes gummy, his characters are complicated and relatable. Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix are wonderfully convincing as the brothers unexpectedly caught up in the supernatural, never letting their lived-in relationship hit a false note. Shyamalan is terrific at staging a big scary moment, and any of the sequences involving Gibson and his family are enjoyable, but the more intimate, two-character scenes stall the momentum (particularly one involving Shyamalan himself as a co-star). Still, with all its faults--and a too-literal final act--"Signs" knows how to get reactions from its audience, and it is clever and canny if not quite hair-raising. *** from ****