Almost excellent

Rating: 8/10 (17 April 2003)

For all the newspaper critics' bluster about M. Night Shyamalan filling Hitchcock's shoes, this director has made quite an interesting niche all his own. His movies are unconventional, with humor, suspense, well-crafted dialogue and minimal violence. Signs may well be his best work to date - I'll admit it had me jumping at shadows for quite a while after watching it - but the ending is simply unforgivable, particularly in an otherwise excellent thriller.
SPOILERS AHEAD.
Signs is a unique film - all its flaws come into play during the last five minutes. Shyamalan makes the inevitable mistake of showing the alien clearly. He should have left it at the blurred newsreel footage, which was effectively disturbing. I was willing to forgive and forget - until Graham is seen donning his priest's collar. If we're to accept the film's assertion that everything somehow adheres to a plan set in motion by some higher power - let's call it God - does Shyamalan seriously expect us to believe that Graham would return to the priesthood when God saves his son from the terminal asthma inflicted upon him by God in the first place? God doesn't have the best track record in this movie. He apparently cut Graham's wife in half with a truck, traumatized a mild-mannered veterinarian for life, made Graham's daughter neurotic about her drinking water and, oh, ARRANGED AN ALIEN INVASION OF EARTH AND THE SLAUGHTER OF HALF ITS POPULATION - all to bring a single jaded priest back to the fold. If anything, shouldn't Graham be more adamant than ever in his hatred of this particular deity? Please.
8/10