One of the years best, if not the best.

Rating: 9/10 (28 August 1999)

I went to see the Sixth Sense with little knowledge except that it had gotten some very good word-of-mouth reactions. I hadn't even heard of it until the day it opened: I had never seen an ad or preview for it at all. Once I left the theater, my first reaction was: Wow! Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan can be credited for a thoughtful script that deals intelligently with life and death. The performances are uniformly superb. Bruce Willis has never been regarded as much of an actor, but here he gives a nice understated performance that gives the film its weight. Toni Collette is very good as Cole's mom, frustrated over her inability to understand what her son is going through. Olivia Williams is wasted in a role that doesn't give her much to do. Donnie Wahlberg is great in his two minutes as a clinically depressed patient. Still, the film wouldn't work without the brilliant performance of little Haley Joel Osment, who gives one of the best performances of the year and perhaps one of the best child performances ever. This kid is great! He projects a great sorrow and pain in his role, and acts better than most seasoned actors. I hope that come the end of the year, he will have gotten a deserved Oscar nod. The years best so far(that will likely change, but for now, this is the one to see.)
Four out of four stars