The ending worked for me

Rating: 10/10 (6 August 2002)

********** SPOILERS ***********
I read a couple of bad reviews of this movie and decided to see it without any expectations. I was amazed at how much I ended up enjoying it. I was impressed by The Sixth Sense but didn't really enjoy it that much.
I saw this movie on opening night, along with the rest of a sold-out audience. It elicited laughs and screams and sighs. The air was really thick with tension in the suspenseful moments and not a sound could be heard. I was sitting at the edge of my seat.
The Acting: Absolutely top notch. Mel Gibson moved me to tears in the scenes outside the vet's house, and at the dinner table. I hated Joaquin Phoenix in The Gladiator, but loved him in this movie. Both the kids are terrific. Abigail Breslin steals every scene she is in (she is so cute, and when she was crying I wanted to go and hold her and console her), but Rory Culkin's performance gives an extremely sensitive, nuanced performance {the anti McCaulay Culkin performance}.
Sound and sound editing: Perfect. The Brazilian birthday scene is made more frightening by the perfect use of sound.
Visual effects: Minimal and Perfectly used. This movie is not visual eye candy like Attack of the Clones. This allows you to be absorbed in the *story*.
Direction and Cinematography were excellent, especially in heightening the suspense. The scary scenes work so well because of the brilliant camera angles.
The Ending: Some of the audience members were clapping with delight in the final scenes, while others were disappointed. Personally, the ending worked for me in the context of the movie, especially in the way it tied up all the ends together (yes, the water does not make much sense scientifically but I will not let that get in the way of enjoying this movie).
It has also been a long while since a movie has absorbed me so much. Because this is a quiet, minimalist movie, I emerged from the theatre without a headache (as in Pearl Harbor) and without my eyes watering.