A Piece of Work, No Matter How You Slice It.

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 2004)

Anyone interested in an entertaining, suspenseful, gritty psychological movie should see this film. Don't listen to the people on here that say "it was so predictable" and all that B.S. They're full of it. There is no way that, unless you are the director himself, you could see all the plot twists in this film. And there are plot twists. However, I would advise not even trying to look for them, just sit back and let the story unfold. Everything in this film has it's meaning.
~~Spoilers beyond this point, please do not read unless you absolutely do not intend to see this film~~
I will attempt to answer for some of the criticism Shyamalan is receiving for this work.
"The dialogue is dry and over-the-top," "The performances are weak."
As to the dialogue, I believe this to be intentional. The over-the-top feel is intentionally there to make you see the effort that has gone into fooling an entire village into thinking they are in colonial times. It's one of those things designed to stick out before ("Why are they talking like that?") and after the plot twists ("It was a detailed sham pieced together by a history professor, I get it").
As to the performances, they are first-rate. William Hurt and Joaquin Pheonix are superb, and Ron Howard's daughter Bryce is phenomenal. The porch scene is gripping and touching, and regrettable after later events. This is acting at its finest.
The symbolism in this film is extraordinary. The "bad" color, the one that caused all of the elders to create a village in the first place. There are some very interesting themes running under the surface that I think people would enjoy if they were not so intent on trying to predict the twists, albeit impossible.
I have a feeling that the majority of people who shoot down the film just don't get it. That is not to say there aren't valid criticisms to be made of the movie, but just that the majority of "save your money" critics probably thought highly of Catwoman until someone with sense told them it was terrible.