The Autumn Breeze

Rating: 1/10 (16 June 2008)

This is easily the worst movie I've seen this year, and one of the worst I've seen in a long time. I loved Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs, and liked a lot of The Village, but when a sold out theater all laughs at the so-called ominous pans across the countryside, the added gore from the R rating, and some of the most execrable dialogue in years, you know you're in trouble. I can't tell if Shyamalan is a good director who can't write, or a good writer who can't direct. Actors who have turned in decent performances in the past here turn in some of the most laughable acting (and laugh the audience did). Mark Wahlberg was terrific in The Departed, but really needs a strong director like Scorsese. I liked Zooey Deschanel in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but she looks and acts a little schizoaffective here, certainly more neurotic than a mild flirtation would warrant. John Leguizamo was pretty good, but did his character succumb to the "event" or did he just commit suicide because his wife might or might not be dead and he left his daughter with friends for no apparent reason? AND WHAT MOVIE IS BETTY BUCKLEY IN? Ironic that she was in Carrie (movie and flop Broadway musical, in two different characters), because she appears to be playing a more Gothic version of Piper Laurie.
Sixth Sense worked because of genuine surprise at the ending.
Unbreakable worked because Bruce Willis and Samuel Jackson were great, and because the story was interesting.
Signs worked because so much of what happened, happened off screen. The best supernatural/suspense/thriller movies work because they hint at what is going on rather than showing it. Jaws worked because the shark didn't and Spielberg had to vamp until they got it working. Alien worked because we saw so little of the actually monster. The original version of The Haunting (with Julie Harris) worked because it was subtle (as opposed to the remake which was over the top).