actually 3 different movies

Rating: 7/10 (5 May 2005)

"The Sixth Sense" is a creepy, atmospheric puzzler about a child psychologist who is trying to help a depressed little boy come to grips with the fact that he sees ghosts. There's more than meets the eye, as everybody knows by now, and the first time you see it, if you don't know the surprise, it's an excellent movie.
Like I said, everybody knows the secret by now, it's like the sled in "Citizen Kane" or the penis in "The Crying Game", so it doesn't even feel necessary to warn that there's a spoiler herein. Bruce Willis is dead! Now, if you were one of the people who found this out before seeing the movie, I bet it ruined it a little for you. And this is the problem with this movie; knowing the surprise spoils it a little bit, and since the surprise is nothing more than a gimmick (albeit a well-done gimmick), I think this movie relies a little bit too much on the gimmick to be considered a great movie.
I didn't know the first time I saw it, by the way, and I was blown away. In 1999, it was one of the best movies of 1999. Make no mistake. It wasn't until it was released on DVD that things started to go downhill.
Let me explain. I said at the top that this is actually 3 different movies, and it is; it's like a chameleon.
1)You're seeing it for the first time, and you don't know how it comes out. Excellent. The surprise is terrific; I figured it out, but not until about 5 minutes before it was revealed anyway, and I know there are definitely people who didn't figure it out, even though they were trying to figure out something. The first time, you really appreciate the performances by Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Ozment, and Toni Collette. They all do outstanding jobs, and this is the one aspect of the movie that really does hold up over time. 10/10.
2) You're seeing it for the second time. You know that Bruce Willis is dead, and you appreciate the work that went into concealing this fact, paying attention for some little slip-up and not finding it. But really, let's be honest; on the second viewing, and probably to an extent on any subsequent viewings, you're giving your full attention to the execution of the gimmick. And it's still good, there's a lot to appreciate here. 9/10.
3) You're seeing it for the third time, and any time after that. You know that Bruce Willis is dead, and you know how artistically this was hidden throughout. So what's left? Well, the fine performances, and the creepy atmospherics, and the entertaining story. So let's not penalize the movie too much at this point, but over time, the quality definitely does wear down, because to some extent, you're still constantly thinking about that gimmick. 7/10, the rating I gave above.
And really, there's a fourth aspect to all this; you're seeing it for the first time, and some dip**** spoiled it for you. Well, you may actually be in a pretty good position. You know Bruce Willis is dead, so on the one hand, you're not pulled in so much by the gimmick, and you can appreciate the other aspects that made this movie good; on the other hand, the surprise is lost on you. You see, it's a completely different movie if you knew the gimmick the first time, and you will never see it the same way as others did. That's a shame, but at least you weren't trying all along to "figure it out", and thus, the performances by Willis, Osment, and Collette may seem all the brighter. I can't comment on how viewers would have rated the movie in this position, because I wasn't one of them. But I think they would have liked it.
So there you have it. AT LEAST 3 different movies, and at least 3 different ratings. I do give it points for being able to change so much on repeated viewings, but I have to take away some, because the power the movie has over you is influenced so much by that gimmick. It's not that it has become a bad movie over the years, but it has lost its status as a great movie.