Technically marvelous but keeps its ace in the hole showing

Rating: Null/10 (31 May 2000)

This is a good example of a film that rests on its creative laurels and dispenses with all that icky "story" nonsense.
Excellent cinematography, lighting, acting, dialogue, and production design abound. It was refreshing to see Bruce Willis do well in a role that isn't summarized as "make smartassed comments, kill terrorists". The technical attributes are what make the movie worth seeing; the photography and lighting reflect the dreary subject matter of the film beautifully and with tension, where necessary. It is for these things that I give "The Sixth Sense" very high marks.
So what's the problem? Here's the problem.
What does everybody that hasn't already seen this movie know about it? "I see dead people." It's on the trailers and it's spoofed constantly on TV for comic effect, so everybody knows that this "gift" is the central focus of the story. And that's fine with me. There's just one problem:
That's the WHOLE story.
Little Cole sees dead people. Okay, so what of it? Since we already knew that from the trailers, the impact of the line and the revelation of that secret is lost when Cole spouts the line halfway into the movie. I, for one, was left saying: "we already knew that. NOW what?"
At least the makers of "The Crying Game" had the sense not to say "Oh, by the way, IT'S A GUY!" in the trailers for THAT film.
Other than that Cole sees dead people, there isn't really a whole lot going on in this film. Okay, so the movie shows US some of the dead people. Yes, it may make you jump in a couple of places, but that doesn't define a thriller. I can sneak up behind a person and yell in his ear and make him flinch; that doesn't make me the master of suspense.
By and large, the genuine creepiness that DOES take place in this movie is effective, but sparse and short-lived. And since we already know about the dead people, there really isn't much left for the audience, except for one thing.
***SPOILER WARNING***
The writer did leave himself an ace in the hole. The problem is that it's almost completely given away by the end of the movie, to folks with a keen eye and sharp senses.
Everybody I knew that saw this movie before I did said: "oh, man, it's great, you've gotta see it, the ending will blow your mind, etc." I started watching the movie. Bruce Willis gets shot, and about twenty minutes later, since the shooting itself had not been brought up at all in the film since it took place, I started asking myself: "okay, it was significant that the underwear-wearing guy in the bathroom blew his brains out... but that alone would have sealed the doctor's motivation for wanting to help this kid. So why did the doctor have to get shot?" Simple answer: so we can all find out at the end that he's already dead. Duh. Of course, that early in the film, it's only a hypothesis. When the big secret is finally revealed, however, you've got so much evidence to support your theory packed into your head that there's no way you CAN'T be right. And, as it turns out, you ARE right. It's a surprise ending that fails to be a surprise.
Therefore, for me, there was nothing interesting about this film in terms of story. And quite frankly, I wasn't too interested in the whole "I see dead people" concept to begin with.
If you want to see a movie with an EFFECTIVE sucker-punch ending, try "The Usual Suspects" or "Fight Club".