'Not too bad at all...'

Rating: Null/10 (22 November 1999)

A rather good film overall... it seems a little empty in places and generally uncertain in it's message to the viewer, but it maintains the attention well. S Some of the scares are pretty tacky and overblown, but with well-executed buildups. The twist is excellently planned, and suprised me - though it's a little odd that the fact revealed by the twist does not have a noticable effect on Cole during the preceding rolls of film. The performance of the adult cast, while convincing in themselves, is totally eclipsed by that of Haley Joel Osmet, who is simply SUPERB. Perhaps even the best performance ever by a child actor. Very, VERY intense, emotional, and moving - particularly the scene where he is locked in a cupboard at a 'friend's' birthday party. Toni Collette is the only other actor who comes close - The scene where she discovers a previously unknown truth about her mother is excellently played, despite the unusual setting for such a scene. Bruce Willis missed an opportunity with this however, playing little more than a (admittedly positive) variation on his recent characters' emotionally dry, squinty-eyed selves. Moreover, it seems a little like the filmmakers didn't get the time to include everything they wanted in this movie. I found it somewhat unconvincing that once Cole 'tests' the theory of why he is being visited, everything is suddenly perfectly cleared up, and the film ends after 15 minutes. No 'journey' by Cole, up to this point. Having said that, neither of those points detract significantly from this otherwise very entertaining picture. Go see it.