Not up to par

Rating: 6/10 (11 October 2005)

This film was hyped to DEATH. M. Night Shyamalan just came off of the huge success of Signs and was being proclaimed to be the next Hitchcock. Plus, the previews made this film look like the scariest film in years! Ultimately, though, the film was an upset.
Despite fantastic performances by William Hurt, Adrian Brody, Joaquin Pheonix, Sigourney Weaver, and an Oscar worthy debut of Dallas Bryce Howard, this film fell short of the hype. One main reason was its "twist". As we know, M. Night has been known for his twist endings. Unfortunately, this film almost became a gimmick for the twist. It actually was sort of in the middle, if you count the revelation, which kind of makes the rest of the film play out less intense than it should have.
Overall, this film should have been advertised as more of a drama than a thriller. It had it's intense moments, but the heart of the film was the emotional performances of Howard, Hurt, and Brody. Their performances were absolutely marvelous and very emotional. It's a shame that the film wasn't up to par with its actors.