A 6 for "Sixth"

Rating: 6/10 (25 March 2000)

This is a very good film, featuring an incredible performance by Osment and a strong reminder of what a fine actor Willis can be when he's got a good script. But while I certainly don't wish to jeopardize my membership by revealing the end (said by many to rival "Usual Suspects"), it simply doesn't warrant the incredible attention it's received (including its Best Picture nomination), and, to my own surprise, undoes any strides it makes towards being a human story rather than a ghost story. For this is really a movie about how being a kid in today's world is tougher than it's ever been. This could have been a much darker, better film, but Disney clearly reigned it in from any steps into R-rating territory. (It's PG-13.) Hopefully its success will allow Shymalan freer rein on his next film: he's capable of it, as the "Munchausen revelation" will attest.