I like that - but ...

Rating: 6/10 (30 October 2000)

It is very difficult to write a good review about "The Sixth Sense" without letting out the ending. To those who haven't seen the film yet: The whole film would be meaningless with any other ending. It was made only because of the ending. Every single scene, every shot exists for no other reason than to give a hint or to prepare the very last scene. The consequence of this is that the film seems very artificial to me; it couldn't be more constructed. Shyamalan shows us exactly as many scenes as possible. Other scenes we expect we do not see because they would tell us too much about the solution.
I admit I'm fond of these stories where at the end you sit there with an open mouth, speechless and then you think about the film again and again and you find answers to thousands of questions you didn't ask. My favourite film is "The Shawshank Redemption" because it has the most brilliant point since "The Planet of the Apes". But there they didn't need any talking dead people to tell a gripping story.
I mean, this was a nice little movie with an interesting atmosphere, some exceptional actors (I don't mean Willis, I mean Osment and Collette) and a little bit of black humour. But I don't agree with the Oscar nomination for Best Picture and with the hymns of praises "The Sixth Sense" got.
And now watch the movie and then read my review again and you'll understand what I mean.