Watchin it now for the millionth time.

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2004)

If I hear one more comment about how 'This movie wouldn't have been the same without the ending' or 'It's a movie reliant on the plot twist' I fear my head may well explode and I'll be another of the young Cole Sear's visitors.
Where to begin. This movie is more than a twist ending. It's how movies should be made. From the beautifully haunting score by James Newton Howard, the unbelievably sophisticated performance by Osment (I hate pretentious child actors doing scary, ie 'The Ring', but this kid is special), the dark,moody directing of Shyamlan, Bruce Willis's excellent tortured performance (fast believing he's the best at tortured expressions in the business. See Twelve Monkeys & Unbreakable) and the unsung hero or heroine in the form of Toni Collette (easily the pick of the performances. Haven't seen her mentioned much. Watch the movie again and just focus on her).
So what's bad about this movie....ummmmm. Give me a minute or two. Nothing. Not a thing. Its a masterpiece. Need more evidence?
Focus on the little subtleties in the movie. I'm not talking the 'Rules and Clues'. I'm talking human eccentricities. Those things that breathe life into a character. I don't care about the horror. My favourite bits:
The 'step backwards' scene. The camera from Cole's POV zooming out. The fact Cole wears his father's glasses with the lenses taken out. His father's watch he found in the drawer. The fact he pays the kid to pretend to be his friend for his mothers benefit. The line 'They don't have meetings about rainbows.' The 'shopping trolley fun ' scene.
Obviously I still like the obvious scenes (the twist revelation, the 'revealing to his mother the truth, Watching it again and missing the clues) buts it's the human characteristics I like.
There's so much more than just a twist movie here and it pains me to think that people that think otherwise should have a voice on here. Then again everyones entitled to there opinion. Even if it's the wrong one...which I guess is subjective anyway.
Anyway, I'm rambling. Go watch it now...I don't care if you've seen it. Watch it again....and again...and again.
This is how to make movies.
Welcome any feedback/criticism. The e-mails there.