Slow, Deliberate, Stylish . . . and Slow, Slow, Slow.

Rating: 6/10 (20 August 2001)

It seems overly simple to classify "The Others" as a cross between classic Hitchcock and "The Sixth Sense" . . . mostly, because that implies "The Others" is a film of that highest caliber. It's certainly not. However, it's not awful, either; instead "The Others" unfortunately falls into the film limbo of being just plain mediocre. "The Others" is a suspense/horror film owing a lot to its predecessors from the 1940s -- it relies on mood, atmosphere, and the casts to create the eerie mood that permeates the film, and never falls back on gratuitous gore to create its horrors. The look and feel of "The Others" is very much that of a vintage Universal film; in fact, if this film had been made in black & white, and if a digital CGI version of Lana Turner could be inserted in Nicole Kidman's place, you would probably swear that this was a forgotten suspense/horror film from that era. It's definitely not a classic -- there's a number of significant issues that add up together to keep "The Others" far, far short of greatness -- but it's an interesting film nonetheless.
"The Others" is, at its heart, a vintage ghost story -- on a small island off the shores of England, there is a forlorn manor house located far away from the trappings of civilization. Living in this isolated house are the elegant Grace (Nicole Kidman) and her two children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley). There are strange rules in the house, which Grace cryptically explains to her new servants are important. Each of the fifty doors in the house must be locked before another can be opened. The curtains must always be drawn. While odd, these rules are vital, Grace explains, because Anne and Nicholas are so allergic to the sunlight that they might die if exposed to it. The servants, led by the wise Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), accede to these rules . . . but they begin to hears voices. And things going bump in the night. So do Anne and Nicholas. Grace doesn't hear these things, or at least she claims not to, which slowly but surely leads to the questions: Are these new servants creating the disturbances for some sinister purpose? Is troubled Anne creating them? Is Grace? Or does something really lurk within the walls of the manor house, something long-dead, something evil . . .
"The Others" relies on its pacing and direction to create its ominous mood. This reliance is both the film's strength and ultimate downfall. Director Alejandro Amenabar lets the viewer savor each moment of the film, building suspense from scene to scene at a slow and steady pace, dropping subtle hints about what has happened and what's going to happen with a very deft touch . . . he really lets things build slowly. In fact, too slowly. "The Sixth Sense" also moved along at an unhurried pace, but at least that film had the good sense to know that in order to maintain the slow pace, some sort of payoff -- or at least a good scare -- has to be tossed out the audience once in awhile, if only to keep some interest and to prevent the film from spiraling into mind-numbing boredom. "The Others" has no sense of this. An hour into the film, the luxurious pace of "The Others" has become little more than self-indulgent tedium. The process of building tension degenerates into pure impatience. There's only two moments in "The Others" that can genuinely be considered "jump-out-of-your-seat" moments; if there had been three or four more of these moments, the film might've averted its slow, steady crash into monotony. Yes, some of the scenes are extremely impressive, and I was particularly impressed with a lot of the cinematography, as well as the richness of the dialogue . . . but these things only can carry a film so far. They have to lead to some kind of ultimate payoff in order to truly mean anything, and in the case of "The Others", that payoff never comes. It's a nice film with some wicked little touches, a few of which border on pure genius . . . and then the film ends. No build-up to a dramatic resolution -- or, for that matter, a satisfying resolution. For that reason, "The Others" can be appreciated for what it is trying to accomplish, and for the techniques it uses . . . but in no way, shape, or form can the end result be called a success. It's a shame, because it seems as though it wouldn't have taken much to turn "The Others" from a bland film into one that was grippingly tense.

Though billed as the star of this film, Nicole Kidman falls just short of providing the strength that "The Others" needed from its central character -- the film revolves mostly around her character's beliefs and perceptions, and she's simply not up to the task of making those beliefs and perceptions one thousand percent convincing. Personally, I've always found Ms. Kidman to be somewhat of an acting enigma -- she's undeniably talented, but apart from her tour de force performance in "To Die For", she always appears to be struggling to find the right outlet for her talent. There's flashes of brilliance from Ms Kidman in "The Others", but that's it, only flashes -- overall, the performance is uneven. I found myself wondering what the film would've been like had it featured either Julianne Moore or Helena Bonham Carter as its star. Fortunately, there's a "sleeper" star in this film, one I would hope to see in many films in the years to come: Alakina Mann, who plays Grace's young daughter Anne. As Anne, this young actress shows both strength and vulnerability with a powerful range, one rarely seen in young actors and actresses today. She's asked to go head-to-head with Ms. Kidman on a number of occasions in the film, and not only does Ms. Mann hold her own, she shines through like a champion. If nothing else, "The Others" might be worth watching simply to see Alakina Mann's superb performance.
"The Others" probably could never have been made without the success of the equally low-key "Sixth Sense". "The Others", though, while possessing an undeniable sense of style and grace, is a film ultimately without a lot to say . . . or a lot to give to its audience. As such, "The Others" is a film with some interesting qualities, some more enjoyable than others -- but it's ultimately little more than an okay film that goes on way longer than it should. "Interesting" doesn't always mean "good" -- and with "The Others", this is certainly the case. Grade: B-