good popcorn, but hold the "pop" ?

Rating: Null/10 (14 August 2002)

M. Night Shyamalan likes to take a pop culture genre gimmick formula seriously. There is a lot of sincerity in this film and I teared up a bit, but some people do have a problem with one central issue. The theme of those who believe and those who don't plays like acknowledgment from the writer-director-supporting actor that if you don't believe in the first place this movie won't convince you. It passes off screenplay structure mechanations as proof that God exists. Perhaps God on this case is the sure-footed writer-director. As in The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, the movie ends up being about reflection and re-interpretation of past events, and that seems to be the the brand name stamp. It also tries to advance on the searching for God theme which caused his first feature Wide Awake to tank. As in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, such a search is a doomed set-up - either you find God and ta-DA! or you don't and you continue waiting for Godot. Here, very genre specific pay-offs in the script - which work on their own - would have played better for most of the audience (and not so corny) if they had appeared in a Will Smith film. In fact, there is a bit of an early John Carpenter low-budget fun aspect with Shyamalan using the limitations of space to avoid being distracted by Independance Day-style FX. The heart of the film is in a dinner table scene and the way it portrays human beings confronting the prospect of losing each other and life itself. If you have no rooting interest in seeing a faith character arc play out, don't see the movie. But it worked for me. I have to give Gibson and Shaymalan credit for daring to go for their ending shot in such a cynical time.