What in God's Name Is Going On Here?

Rating: 4/10 (1 March 2009)

Man-of-the-cloth Mel Gibson (as Graham Hess) has left the Priesthood. Six months ago, Mr. Gibson lost his wife in a car accident; and, he is struggling with a loss of Christian faith. Gibson's younger brother, Joaquin Phoenix (as Merrill Hess) has moved in, to help Gibson and his children grieve. Mr. Phoenix was a promising baseball player, but he stuck out too much...
Gibson is an Episcopalian, obviously (a wife and sex are permitted), with two children: asthmatic alien-conscious Rory Culkin (as Morgan Hess) and perpetually thirsty Abigail Breslin (as Bo Hess). Gibson is also a farmer. The movie gets started when extraterrestrials startle Gibson's family, by turning their Pennsylvania cornfield into "Crop Signs" - aka "Crop Circles".
Soon, these "Signs" are popping up all over India, and the world. Presumably, the designs are signposts for motherships - it's difficult to understand what logical purpose they would serve, as an alien spacecraft would be too technically advanced to use them... maybe, then, they are merely alien pranks. Or, they could be sent from God, to help Gibson re-harvest his faith
"Signs" borrows its basic plot from H.G. Wells' "The War of the Worlds" - a frequently tapped well. Gibson, Phoenix, and the kids look very silly in two memorable poses, sitting stone-faced with their palms on their knees and/or wearing pointy tinfoil hats. The biggest "jolt" comes early in the film, with a simple dog's bark. Mr. Shyamalan builds suspense well, in the early scenes.
The best performance is delivered by director M. Night Shyamalan (as Ray Reddy). Cherry Jones (as Caroline Paski) is okay as the local cop, but her character should have written up (as a possessed alien, for example). The main "special effect" is good; but, the aliens, if they are real, have to be the dumbest extraterrestrials in the galaxy, if you stop and think about it
**** Signs (7/29/02) M. Night Shyamalan ~ Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin