Comments on Reviews...

Rating: 9/10 (18 August 2002)

I have reviewed this movie already, but wanted to address the points of a couple other reviewers. Several have brought up the "atheist in a foxhole" thing, but apparently they weren't paying attention to the movie (granted, Shymalan's films require a far better than average attention span). Gibson's character never lost his faith, but rather is angry at God over the death of his wife and is despairing (this point is very clearly delineated by a certain scene).
Also, it's interesting that most of the negative reviews tend to focus on inane, cerebral nit-picks that have nothing to do with "willing suspension of disbelief" (which is critical to the enjoyment of a fantasy film such as this). For example, the comments about water, comments like "this couldn't happen" or "that couldn't happen".... all I can think of to say is "no kidding, we aren't watching a docu-drama." If you can't relax, surrender and allow a movie to stir your subconscious, stay away from Shyamalan films.
Perhaps the director succeeded all too well here -- people certainly seem to be polarized over this one, but few are indifferent. 9/10 (please read Roger Ebert's review, which I agree with for the most part).