Forget the twist; this movie holds its own regardless

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2005)

I won't comment on the predictability of the twist in the end, for that has been done to death. The problem many people have with this movie is that they always expect a knock-your-socks-off twist from M. Night to the exclusion of being able to appreciate anything else about his films. This film holds its own, both because of and in spite of the twist at the end.
Ultimately, this is not a horror film, mildly a suspense film, but mostly a drama about the extent to which people will go to protect those they love from the world outside and how, ultimately, such protection is hopeless and life must be lived. That is a message each of us grapples with whether explicitly or implicitly, and one that's brought to beautiful life by Shyamalan.
Other comments: perfect cinematography, as usual, by Roger Deakins. Bryce Dallas Howard will be big--her performance here was really the only one that stood out in what was mostly a wasted cast (for example, Michael Pitt, who did a great job as the lead in "The Dreamers," has one or two lines in the whole movie, and Sigourney Weaver...well, she's just left out to dry). Because of those flaws, I'm giving this movie a 9/10, but its message is so pure and well-meaning that even without the twist it made me smile.