A despondent film with monotone dialogue and emotion

Rating: 5/10 (14 August 2004)

M. Night Shyamalan's SIGNS is plagued, as was his predecessor, The Sixth Sense with an X-file like mood. Scully and Mulder had to be searching that corn field. Emotions lie low in this despondent film. Let's face it, Shyamalan has a gimmick and it seems to work well with Bourgeois audiences. The film is very goofy on the most part.
The film holds our curiosity but fails to deliver any punch. It seems to be dwelling on some philosophical idea of the human condition in the 21st century. It explores the faith and family of rural America in a quick changing world. A corn raised family residing in an Andrew Wyeth painting.
The directing and lighting in the film fail to inspire any originality. It leaves one to believe that Shyamalan was under contract to make another film; "Oh, who cares...give them cheap alien gimmicks and a corn field....we'll get you Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson....it will make millions..."
And it did....