Excellent if understated edge-of-your-seat thriller

Rating: Null/10 (6 August 2002)

I went in to this movie expecting it to fall short of its hype. But I actually found it quite good. The trailers are misleading, but deliberately so and -- if this makes sense -- "honestly" so. This is really more a movie about a widowed father struggling with his dying faith after a car accident leaves his wife dead. The crop signs and other sci fi trappings are all in service of this plot. M. Night Shyamalan takes a relatively mundane bogeyman story and turns it into a thoughtful, character-driven exploration of faith and destiny.
A lot of people will be disappointed because there are no lasers, no Ramboesque heroics, and no explosions. There ARE plenty of twists and surprises and at least one jump-from-your-chair shock. The effects, like the movie, are subtle and understated ... just as in a good Hitchcock film. Gibson gives an excellent performance and the children are amazingly genuine. IMHO, _Signs_ recaptures much of the feel and skill that made _The Sixth Sense_ such an astounding film.