Filmaking at it's finest...

Rating: Null/10 (10 September 2003)

Movies this day and age are often hard pressed to be creative and original, seeing as (for the most part) everyone has dragged through the same stories and concepts before. Same plot. Different characters. Varied acting abilities. A new twist maybe, but essentially the same thing.
That's why this delightful little thriller is so fantastic.
Just when you thought classic movie-making was over, M. Night Shyamalan comes in and proves all of us wrong. Movies still *can* be original. Movies *can* draw a crowd without writers throwing in graphic sex scenes, pointless nudity, gut-wrenching gore and everything else that draws a crowd these days.
Here we're given something far better: Feeling.
Every emotion in you is squeezed out to the surface. One minute you're freaked out like nobody's business, the next you're laughing hysterically. One minute you're letting out a terrified squeak, the next you're letting out a heartfelt sob. It's a brilliant experience, to say the least.
I've always thought that the really good movies were the ones that brought out every little feeling you were capable of feeling. This movie is one of a select few that pulls it off to such a successful degree. The acting is fabulous (Toni Collette steals the show, hands down...) the story remains fresh and intriguing the whole way through, and believe you me... the ending did indeed throw me for a loop.
M. Night Shyamalan is definitely one of my favorite directors, and this is truly his masterpiece.
Get's the clowns_n_cookies seal of approval!