M.Night Shyamalan is a genius.

Rating: Null/10 (11 March 2001)

I've never seen , but I already know that Michael Cane didn't deserve Haley Joel Osment's Oscar...oh, well, the Academy probably felt bad for him or whatever because this was his first...
Anyway, although Haley Joel Osment is absolutely amazing in this film, I'd like to say that it's really the writer/director who represented his character who deserves the *real* credit. I say this because I wasn't in a rush to see Osment's next film, .
I'm not into long, drawn-out movies, and I can definitely say this one is drawn out. But drawn-out movies that happen to be great ALWAYS work even better the second time around. Seeing it for the second time made me smile more, cry(twice!), and even get scared more easily. I'm sure it's already been mentioned here, but the "ghost" scenes are hauntingly real-looking, as opposed to a film loaded with CGI where I could imagine myself admiring the physical attributes of a ghost rather than being terrified by it. The fact that children are used makes it freaky as well.
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I love how after Osment's character gives the video to the deceased girl's father, how 1) what was on that video was completely unexpected and spine-chilling and 2)how the boy leaves without getting involved. He figures he did something he needed to do and that was that, feeling more and more as though this was his destiny.

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I also think it is great how Shyamalan made Osment's character a real little boy. This is refreshing; he is neither one of those smart-ass brat kids who always seem to be used to steal the spotlight from their on-screen parents, nor the pole opposite, a mentally-handicapped, loud and obnoxious kid who are used for cheap comic relief, with extremely bad acting skills and stage presence. While the above norms for child characters run rampant in Hollywood scripts, not so in Shyam.'s. For example I liked a lot, but hated Janie's character for its type-cast 'spoiled teen angst-driven'ness..(Why did she have to wear black *and* feel spiritually "black" as well? Overkill...not realistic, believe me, I'm 21 and I know teens don't act this rude to their parents for no reason) I also liked but didn't understand why they had to make the daughter's character such a stupid, snotty bitch, the way she spoke to her parents, etc.

But Haley's refreshing, *and* he manages to steal the show from Bruce. Bruce's acting was good here, one part I especially liked, but not for the same reason everyone else did was the part where he tells Bruce that................

*************SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!******************

..............he sees dead people. The first time you're watching it of course you won't realize......but the second time....watch how when Malcolm asks the boy about the ghosts, and the boy answers "They don't know they're dead, they only see what they wanna see", watch Malcolm's eyes as these lines are said. From knowing that he was dead all along, it's amazing to look back and see that his eyes are that of a ghost whose eyes are glazed over in disbelief because he "only sees what" he "wants to see".

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Another thing I find brilliant about Shyamalan's script is that he twists the story one way to lead you to believe it is going in one direction, then BAM!, we are pleasantly twisted in an entirely different direction. For example, the tape Malcolm plays of his old student makes you believe he discovered something that will ultimately end the movie, but no.............!

This is one of the most psychologically scary movies I've ever seen, and it also works one of the most heart-warming dramas ever because every character is given a respective role in the film, and in turn every character is sympathetic and good to each other. It also has a pleasant ending for a girl who would've gotten about a zillion nightmares from this film had it stayed scary throughout!

-Sep