Man, this film is poor.

Rating: 3/10 (13 September 2002)

***SPOILERS*** ***SPOILERS*** Cards on the table. I did not like this film. There's no doubt M Night is a talented director, but a scriptwriter he ain't and as an actor he makes Tarantino look good. Alright, the movie didn't bore me, which is a good sign, but it sured bored a lot of people at the screening I saw. I've never heard more mumbling or people shifting in their seats.
First, the acting. The kids were good, and Mel & Joaquin did reasonably well, but some of the supporting roles were really poor: the female cop, the army sargeant & especially M Night himself. I really hated the bit where they were sitting in the diner going "Is he the guy?", which was clearly intended to carry a double meaning, of "Is he that talented young director everyone's going on about?". His role was too important to the movie to squander on such a poorly-acted ego-massaging cameo.
SPOILER: Second, the alien invasion was lame: I really didn't get why they wouldn't use any weaponry. To avoid nuclear attack? That is SO lame! Surely an unarmoured ground assault is far more vulnerable to nuking that a highly mobile air war? It is completely illogical, as Mr Spock might say.
However, my main sticking point with the movie was the horrible "you gotta have faith" theme. SPOILER(ish): You could see a mile off that Mel was going to recover his faith in god, but what a lame way to go about it. What kind of weak stupid capricious deity just interferes in the world by giving people good luck? Surely the whole concept of a benevolent one-god depends entirely upon his/her pro-active engagement with the lives of the people he has chosen to "care" for?
Enlightenment comes with the rejection of superstitious outmoded belief structures and the acceptance of your status as an individual in control of your own destiny. In explicitly stating that faith makes you a stronger person, more able to deal with trauma and tragedy, M Night spits in the face of those of us who have achieved some small aspect of enlightenment and rejected such superstitious, uneducated, blind folly. Only see this movie if you are one of the sheep. Peace.