It failed to grab me but that doesn't make it a bad movie.

Rating: 6/10 (28 August 2001)

I'm one of those "unfortunate beings" who viewed the movie in video a year after its release when its reputation was still strong among movie goers.
My philosophy is that a good movie can be enjoyed and appreciated wether it's seen on the big or the small screen.
Before handing out the bad notes, I'll give it the credit it deserves for certain aspects. First, both the photography and camera work are superb. Haley Joel Osment plays very well (his talent was confirmed in the recently released "AI"). Willis is also good but, IMO, he didn't seem to fit well in that part of a child psychologist. I'll blame it on the amount of action movies he played in.
The plot is undeniably the strongest element of the movie, it is quite effective (although, I think, it would've made a deeper impact on me if I had experienced it in book form). And most of the technical aspects like lighting, editing and even the soundtrack deserve good marks.
So, what's wrong with The Sixth Sense??
All through the movie, I had the feeling (not sense!) that I was in a Stephen King movie. And ya know: this story of a little kid who sees ghosts that died tragically (but no one ever sees them) and his worried mother wants to help him get through this psychological problem... Doesn't it remind you of another horror movie by the late great Stanley Kubrick??
Well I found that annoying. And that's not the only thing.
As I wrote above, the plot may be brilliant but its "well oiled" logic is somewhat flawed.
[WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS MAY ACT AS SPOILERS!] Not shouting, just warning.
1. If I was in a house where my husband or my wife had been murdered before my very eyes, I wouldn't stay in that place for long. I'd quickly put the house for sale, pack up my things and leave! Move on to another place, as far as possible. Wouldn't you?? So why is Anna still holed up in that house six months after Malcolm's death??
(Oh yeah, it serves the interest of the story. She has to have a last minute encounter with the ghost of her husband so they can bid farewell to each other.)
2. In the story where the little girl is gradually poisoned by her evil stepmother: it's amazing to see how a small child can effectively hide and position the videocam that records the evidence that will later incriminate the murderess. Everything is recorded at the right angle (the girl probably asked her mother to stand on a piece of tape on the floor while she prepared the tainted potion!!) with the prime suspect never ever suspecting anything (she also never cleaned up her daughter's bedroom or if she did, her clever daughter would already have hidden the camera under the covers!!)
If you were guilty of murdering your own daughter, would you go ahead and wear a vivid red dress at her funeral while everbody dressed in darker or somber clothing?? (Ah! But the color red serves a purpose here! It's evidence, cleverly planted by Mr. Night Shyamalan himself to cue us in to important things!!) Yeah, sure. Please don't give me that crap that "people with a guilty conscience betray themselves in such manners".
If you're ready to believe that, you're ready for anything. Including the fact that it took Crowe six months and the help of a psychic kid to realize that he was only the ghost of himself. (It took Patrick Swayze less than six minutes in Ghost, I guess Willis must be getting old and a little slow!;-)
Anyway, I'll stop here. I guess the reason why I didn't enjoy this movie, as much as the majority of people, is because I was distracted and annoyed by all these details.
I know some people saw the movie 5 times and even more. I saw it once and it's enough for me.
Hope I didn't offend anyone.