A little too much corn in those fields?

Rating: 7/10 (5 August 2002)

While not as breathtaking as The Sixth Sense (with its goosebump-inducing-no-matter-how-many-times-I-see-it surprise ending) nor as majestic as Unbreakable (with its unique believe-it-if-you-dare reality), Signs is still an M. Night Shyamalan film, which means it will not bore you, at least. There are great performances as well: Mel Gibson conveys profound sadness with incredible subtlety, Joaquin Phoenix permeates his every scene with complexity, and Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin have no false moves, thanks to Shyamalan's superb direction, particularly with children.

So we have a potentially brilliant film that doesn't quite pay off at the end (which in any other filmmaker's hands would most likely have been downright corny). I do, however, appreciate Shyamalan's attempt to depict a very tricky subject - the 'mysterious ways' of divine guidance, the lack of coincidence in events that seemingly appear disconnected, which come together when they're meant to, in order to make what is supposed to happen occur. For that alone, I give him the thumbs-up sign.