Lost Faith

Rating: 1/10 (20 August 2002)

It's all about faith, right? Well slap me around the face with a dead halibut!
Shyamalan brings us a mildly interesting film about the reaffirmation of faith of a man who has lost it after the death of his wife, packaged as an alien/crop circle movie.
SPOILERS..
Although elements of the film were indeed well crafted and filmed, it seemed a shame that the director felt it necessary to 'hammer-home' his concept of faith and belief that 'things happen for a reason'. The issues of faith were much better dealt with in films like Contact and not as tidily resolved or telegraphed as they were in Signs. Many have critisized the alien element of the film and have been berated for not looking past the invasion and concentrating on the main 'faith' theme. The problem that arises when you're developing a story that contains serious issues, like fate and faith, is if you surround it with inconsistancies and implausabilities (no matter how improbable the scenario is), it loses alot of it's impact.
The acting in the film is commendable and even M.Night does a reasonable job (with his hydrophobic (yes, again) prophecy) and the story moves on at a reasonable pace. That is, until towards the end. Subtlety is thrown out of the window in favour of childlike story-telling and your left feeling that a good film (certainly amongst this months fare) becomes completely average.
I for one, feel too many people are quick to applaud the works of certain directors (especially those that share their name) and not judge a film soley on it's merits. Based on it's merits, this is a wholly average film.
Oh and by the way, the Hitchcock associations end with the opening credits!