Definitely Watch This At Least Twice

Rating: 8/10 (29 June 2001)

I find this a very difficult movie to review, because everything in it is so tied to the surprise ending that to say anything at all about the story is virtually to give everything away. Believe me, though, that you have to watch this twice to really appreciate it. The first time I watched it I found certain elements of the story to be so confusing that they were distracting. I also noticed a number of plot inconsistencies that bothered me. In the light of the movie's ending, most of it makes sense (although a few plot inconsistencies are actually created by the ending.) In any event, I found "the Sixth Sense" to be far more enjoyable the second time than the first. Without giving the whole thing away, what can I say about this?
The performances are very strong. Bruce Willis is excellent as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, the child psychologist seeking to help young Cole Sear with his visions of dead people. Sear, of course, was played by Haley Joel Osment. Osment put on an astonishingly good performance, and was well deserving of the Oscar he won as Best Supporting Actor. Also offering a strong performance in a supporting role was Toni Collette, who played Cole's mother Lynn, struggling to make sense of Cole's behaviour.
On the down side, I found much of the dialogue in the movie was offered in rather hushed tones which sometimes made it difficult to follow what was happening. That, however, is a relatively minor criticism. I would rate this movie as an 8/10 without any hesitation at all.