Fair enough, but not the work of genius some claim

Rating: 6/10 (7 March 2011)

I hate to be a party pooper, but I really can't see what all the fuss is about. The Sixth Sense is an entertaining film, better than some, not as good as others, but it is most certainly not the masterpiece many seem to make it out to be. (Nor, for that matter, is it as bad as many here suggest.) If anything it is an intriguing story, and not original at that - read The Third Policeman - which is realised in a somewhat perfunctory way by Shaymalan. If anything it could have been done better. When I was considering my view of the film, the word 'ponderous' occurred to me more than once, and I think that is about right. The Sixth Sense needed a more delicate touch and, well, it should have been spookier. Having said all that the young lad who portrays young Cole, the boy who can see the dead, give an outstanding performance, and for once an American director has successfully resisted the temptation to make a child more cloying than a mug of treacle. His mother also does well as a harassed single mother, and Bruce Willis shows that there is more to his ability than shooting guns and posing in sweaty T shirts. But I have to repeat: The Sixth Sense is great for a night in but not the earth-shattering Meisterwerk others claim it to be. If anything, there is any number of plot holes which become rather glaring once the film has finished and overall it doesn't quite stack up as it should. But what the hell: that would be serious is it came anyway close to being a work of genius. As it doesn't, those plot holes don't really matter.