Very good, until you think about it

Rating: 8/10 (13 August 2002)

*Contains Minor Spoilers* From the captivating television commercials for "Signs" one would think this is a movie that is mostly about crop circles and aliens, but it is actually about much more. In fact, although the aliens are of major importance throughout the movie, the crop circles play only a minor role, and are simply one reference to the title, which is more directly related to the sometimes seemingly random events in one's life. It is much too complicated to explain without giving away the plot, but this movie may not be what you are expecting. Instead, "Signs" is a rare movie that successfully blends suspense, comedy, drama, and horror, among other things, into one film, while still delivering a strong message. Despite this, I think this movie has much better entertainment value than message delivering ability. Throughout the film, I was captivated by what was happening on the screen, despite the relatively little action in the film, and was kept in suspense from the opening scenes until the finale almost two hours later. Unfortunately, I think the ending is one of the stupidest that I have ever seen, it just doesn't make any scientific sense at all!!! And the more I think about it and talk about it with other people who saw it, the more problems with this ending surface. I won't say what that ending is, but in my opinion it was enough to demote this movie from an easy 10 down to an 8, maybe a 7. However, in all other aspects, it is the best movie I have seen so far this year. The acting is very good, although I thought that Mel Gibson was a little stiff throughout the film, the direction is superb, the score is perfect, and except for a few cheesy lines, which seem mandatory in all movies these days, the writing is excellent.