But their life is better than yours

Rating: 9/10 (23 August 2004)

I've sat here for a while and become increasingly annoyed with reviewers who seem to expect the earth from M. Night Shyamalan. Not only does he provide something which, for me, is a very thought provoking piece, matching it's fine acting only with it's exemplary casting, but he also yet again managed to baffle me into not being able to predict his trademark 'twist'. Hell, he even made four of my friends as well as myself laugh out loud near the beginning (you'll know when).
The reason why I think this film hasn't seen such great reviews of late is that everyone's expecting something herculean - give the guy a break! You are only comparing him to his previous triumphs. Had this been any other director then this would have been the stand alone hit that was the Sixth Sense.
However, comparisons will forever be made with the Sixth Sense for the rest of his career so let's get on with it:
The pace starts slow (hello, normal village life?!) but also builds slowly, changing your perception of the potential plot lines along the way. It successfully places just enough doubts in your mind about the potential plot lines you foresaw to keep it's edge almost throughout. Even when I had guessed what the twist was going to be, there were MORE twists!
Unfortunately, I thought that Sigourney Weaver was underused but couldn't rightly see where she would be better placed or why that character would justify more film time - maybe an extended edition will do her more justice. Williams Hurt gives a dependable performance and Joaquin Phoenix plays the 'quiet type' very well. Bryce Dallas Howard does very well indeed although she can sometimes 'see' where she's running a little too well for my liking.
All in all, I would rate this behind the Sixth Sense in my list of his favourites (not by much - I worked out THAT twist!) but a big step up from Signs.