Custom-built for mass appeal

Rating: 5/10 (15 December 1999)

**Spoilers**

There's nothing particularly awful about this film, there's just nothing particularly great about it either. About 10 minutes into it, the ending is painfully obvious and the climax - where Cole finally reveals his "problem" to Malcolm - has been given away from the very start by the overzealous trailers. What we're left with is an hour and a half of tedious plot exposition and a denouement that is so contrived it makes you wonder what the point of the entire movie was. Then the "surprise" comes and you realize that the entire point was to fool you with the ending! If you were fooled then the movie worked; if not then it probably didn't.

On a positive note: the performances were very good - notably, Osment and Colette - and the cinematography was excellent. Ultimately, however, - unless you are terrified even thinking about ghosts - the Sixth Sense is only mildly entertaining and, upon a second viewing, even less so. 5/10