Nothing Other Than Great

Rating: 9/10 (22 September 2001)

Is this Nicole Kidman's year or what? First she stars in the dazzling, cinematic spectacle that is "Moulin Rouge". Then she takes a turn and releases the "The Sixth Sense" for summer 2001, "The Others".
"The Others" takes place in 1945. Grace (Nicole Kidman), a widow and single-mother, lives in a secluded home with her two children, Anne (Alakia Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley). She is forced to live in darkness, for her children have a severe allergy that causes them to break out and blister when exposed to mass amounts of light. All is going well, but soon, Grace begins to learn the she, her children, and her servants are not alone in her house. Grace becomes determined to find out who the intruders are...and drive them out to regain her home.
This movie was just beautiful. The story was sharp and original. It wasn't just some cliche`d haunted house movie with spooky sounds and bumps and creaks in dark rooms, with boring ghosts that you seen any old day. The story used the idea of the haunted house, and twisted the story to make "The Others" into an original, creative, and new telling of the famous tale. This practice of taking and creating is what made "The Sixth Sense" so remarkable, and therefore makes this movie great as well.
The acting was just as great. Not only is this Nicole Kidman's year for her movies, but for her acting as well. She has managed to give Oscar-caliber performance in two movies for this year alone. She convincingly plays the strict but caring mother, who is torn between the logic of the beliefs she grew up on and the apparent happenings in her house. You almost forget that she is acting. Alakia Mann and James Bently also deliver key performances as well. In fact, there wasn't one cast member that let me down.
"The Others" was also cinematically beautiful. The dark tones on the movie set the perfect mood for this movie's theme, giving regular scenes the right amount of light and sinister scenes the deserved amount of darkness and horror. The camera angling and positions also wonderfully gave the "oomph" needed to make the scenes be seen in the proper mood.
A well-crafted dramatic thriller, "The Others" is a must-see for thriller-lovers and movie-lovers alike. While not quite up to "The Sixth Sense"'s calibur, the movie is still a must-see.
9/10, A-