competent but incredible

Rating: 6/10 (29 September 2007)

First the good: technically, The Village is a visually engrossing, well-crafted and photographed film. The cast is more than up to the task, especially Bryce Dallas Howard who is absolutely engrossing. The basic concept, the pact with the creatures inhabiting the forest that allows the villagers their idyllic existence, is believable if one leans toward the supernatural or at least for its entertainment value. The story moves along with plenty of drama until the moment when everything is revealed and then it all falls apart. Of course there are hints that all is not as it seems, that this is not really a pre-industrial age era. The women's liberated behavior is proof enough that we're dealing with enlightened people here. The problem as I see it is that customary human emotions and faults are not accounted for. How is it that for all these years the leaders (the elders as they're called) of this community have shown no jealousy, competition or envy toward each other. How is it there have been no defections? How did they manage to keep their secret this long? Call me a pessimist, but people are guided as much by these emotions as by the cooperation, goodwill and love the villagers exhibit.
By placing the plot in the present all of these issues come into play and must be dealt with. The fact they were not left me incredulous. It would have been better if the villagers were survivors of an apocalyptic war and the woods were inhabited by mutants. Or if the villagers were actually colonists on an earth-like planet surrounded by aliens in the forest. These scenarios would preserve the fantasy instead of stretching our credulity by expecting us to believe all the villagers (with the exception of Brody's character) were altruists.