Shyamalan's downward spiral continues....

Rating: 3/10 (1 September 2008)

When The Sixth Sense was released, almost a decade ago, it was impossible not to take notice of M. Night Shyamalan and his strong directorial style. It contrasted heavily with other "occult" and "scary" offerings. And this was predominantly due to a style of direction that is both poignant yet sober. M. Night Shyamalan has since then continued to use that formula, basing each of his new movies on an intriguing idea and plot twists. At the heart of M. Night Shyamalan's undeniable influences are Stephen King and Alfred Hitchcock and this explains why his fascinating premises and the stylistic imprint have struck a chord with a large audience. Some trademarks:
-Like Hitchcock, Shyamalan makes a cameo appearance in his movies
-stories are slow paced and there is an air of mystery and supernatural.
-There are scares but the movies avoid cheap stunts like swear words, buckets of bloods and naked bimbos instead relying on primal fears, imagination to galvanize the audience. What horror there is, is handled in a classy manner.
-Protagonists are usually ordinary people put in extraordinary situations.
-Direction is a sort of modern, Hollywoodian "cinéma d'auteur" style in some ways.
Unfortunately, what should have been a winning combination has proved more and more tedious with each subsequent movies our director has released.
Consider the slow fall: Sixth Sense: Top notch acting, pacing, photography. Amazing story. A superb twist ending that is elegant. We sense Shyamalan's direction in some plot elements but it doesn't clash with the viewer, nor does it prevent immersion.
Unbreakable: Solid acting, pacing and general direction. Premise is amazing but treatment leads to a less compelling story than Sixth Sense. Twist ending falls flat, like Shyamalan was trying to repeat Sixth Sense. Tried too hard.
Signs: Both Unbreakable and the Sixth Sense were emotionally charged and succeeded in that respect. We deeply care about the characters, their personal struggles and their journey. Here, what should be emotionally charged is just sappy and cheap. Joaquin Phoenix's talent is wasted with a crappy character. Overtones of spirituality are heavy handed. There's still great direction here and the premise is fascinating. As the story progresses, it only disappoints.
The Village: Shyamalan corrects the overly sappy nature of his previous offering a little. But the whole buildup seems to revolve around the twist ending. One of Shyamalan's strongest premise but plot development is forced. Bryce Dallas Howard, much like Haley Joel Osment in the Sixth Sense, is perfect and a revelation as a new star. We roll our eyes as Shyamalan makes his artificial cameo appearance. Movie's ending is flat. There's still the overall impression the direction is above average but it just doesn't give results.
Lady in the Water: An awkward and silly mix of fantasy, horror and mystery. Some of the characters, like the "bodybuilder" are just downright stupid. Shyamalan's role in this one is a bit more important but he very much deserves the Razzie award for it. The "plot twist" in this one again shows the desperation of Shyamalan to repeat the Sixth Sense's success. Paul Giamatti, one of the great actors of his generation, does well, but some of the cast members surrounding him are just atrocious. Again, Shyamalan, as a director, intervenes in the plot, auteur-style, with a critic character but it is heavy-handed. By the end, you're just glad the movie is over as the weird mix between a horror movie and a Neverending Story knockoff is just painful to watch.
Which brings us to The Happening. Again, the Shyamalan trademarks are there. Slow pace like the Sixth Sense, but not to good effect. In Mark Walhberg's first scene, we immediately notice he is miscast and on top of that, delivers an awful performance. At times, it's like nails on a chalkboard. Zooey Deschanels, an amazing indie actress who has been hit and miss in Hollywood movies, delivers one of her worst performances ever. I'm not even sure she tried, to be honest. And I certainly doubt Shyamalan provided much guidance. All the characters are flat. Most actors, including Leguizamo, are miscast. The story? Again, the premise is interesting but this must be the worse development of a story by Shyamalan so far. Plot holes and incoherencies abound. There's a vast list on the message board but as a glowing example, we see a woman talking to a relative on her cell... and she actually puts her on speaker phone for us, the audience, to hear the horror. It's so inelegant and so unlike anything you would expect from the guy who directed The Sixth Sense. The Happening reminds us of Hitchcock's The Birds but without any value in it.
Shyamalan has reached the lowest of lows. It's very obvious by now that he continually tries to replicate the success of The Sixth Sense and it is no coincidence that each subsequent movie since has had a lower and lower ratings, much like sequels to a great movie will receive lower and lower ratings as the formula is milked and abused. And this where Shyamalan and Hitchcock differs. Where there are underlying links and similarities in themes, there's also a willingness by Hitchcock not to repeat himself overly. To break new grounds. And there's a perpetual attention to details. In Shyamalan's case, all I get is the impression of someone who keeps viewing The Sixth Sense and wonders how to recreate that hit. I had never seen a Shyamalan directorial effort that was actually crappy until this. I had seen sappy, manipulative and pointless stories but this is the first time the pacing and acting is actually that off.
It's worth noting that in the Sixth Sense, Donnie Walhberg, a b-movie actor, had a small role that he pulled off brilliantly with the help of Shyamalan where his high profile brother Mark totally fails here.