Illogic and constructed

Rating: 2/10 (9 July 2000)

Whew, with the hype that went around this movie, you got the feeling that you miss out on elemental cinematic history if you don't see it. Unfortunately, that's not true.
"The Sixth Sense" tries hard to be a good psycho-thriller and in fact the idea behind it was good. But as the script was written, someone must have had the idea to put the real big bang in there, something no viewer can guess to happen, the totally total of all story twists there ever were. But, bad luck, the grand idea has to fit into the rest of the script, so you have to modify it and make compromises.
And really, I was disappointed with the end. Not because of it, but because everything else was set up for it. I didn't guess the twist because it was so sneaky, but because it was completely implausible. To clarify that I will try hard not to give anything away, in case you didn't see "Sixth Sense" yet, so I will ask only one question, which you'll understand later: how do you get into someones apartment without ringing the doorbell or knocking? There are numerous more points like that but by stating them I would give away the surprise. It's too bad the whole film had to suffer just to get that in.
And then there are horror scenes, not too many, but I guess the writers figured that the movie had to give some more than the general idea and the last big bang. And again, they just serve the purpose and are badly integrated: young Cole, they boy who can see ghosts, later finds out that they want him to help them. I think even a ghost can anticipate that scaring someone to death isn't a good start for getting help.
Probably the best asset of the movie is Haley Joel Osment, who played "Cole." Marvelous what this young boy could do with his role. Bruce Willis stays a little unbelievable as a psychologist, but that could be the script as well. So far I yet have to encounter a psychologist who handles therapy that way.
Well, nice idea, nice movie, but nothing overly sensational. Horror movies greatly benefit from taking part in our world and incorporating the horror into it. But then they have to stay true to rules we all are familiar with and to those they need to set up to make us bite our nails. If "Sixth Sense" would have mastered both, I'd be yelling "great one!"