Stately thriller will divide audiences

Rating: 5/10 (22 January 2005)

THE SIXTH SENSE
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Sound formats: Dolby Digital / DTS / SDDS
Whilst recovering from a recent trauma, a child psychologist (Bruce Willis) helps a little boy (Haley Joel Osment) who claims to see ghosts.
Released the same year as THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (1999), another 'spook' movie which divided audiences and reaped dividends at the international box-office, M. Night Shyamalan's breakout feature THE SIXTH SENSE plays much better on TV than it ever did in theaters. With its slow tempo and stately visuals, the movie takes a mature approach to its supernatural subject matter, revealing Osment's ultra-creepy 'secret' in piecemeal fashion, one scare at a time. Former tough guy Willis plays a vulnerable figure whose bond with Osment provides a level of stability absent from his personal life - devastated by an incident in the film's opening sequence, Willis' wife (Olivia Williams) seems to be drifting into a relationship with a young family friend (Glenn Fitzgerald) - and while Osment is the primary focus of Shyamalan's screenplay, it's Willis who holds the material together. Some viewers may be distracted by the film's deliberate pacing, while others will be affected by the gradual accumulation of creepy details, spiked by a couple of really good jolts. The much-lauded twist ending might have been more effective had it not been mentioned in EVERY SINGLE REVIEW (including this one!), making it possible for many people to guess the 'surprise' long before Shyamalan reveals his hand. Australian actress Toni Collette is superb as Osment's harried - but deeply loving - mom, and there are cameo appearances by Shyamalan himself and an unrecognisable Donnie Wahlberg (BAND OF BROTHERS).