A colossal miscalculation of a movie

Rating: 3/10 (31 July 2004)

M. Night Shyamalan is a talented director, but his films are often ill-conceived in one way or another. Sixth Sense was his strongest and best thought-out, but was dragged down by its Hollywood sheen. Signs was good, but self-defeating. Now we have The Village, which is, quite simply, awful film-making.
There are so many conceptual problems with this film that they're not worth enumerating -- and even beyond that, they couldn't be discussed without giving away the "surprise" (which, aside from being quite poor, anticlimactic, and predictable in the worst way, comes little over halfway into the film, leaving you anxious for the picture to end throughout the remainder). There are no scares. There are attempts, mind you, but they all fall shockingly flat.
The only dramatic weight comes from Bryce Dallas Howard. Though she is occasionally unconvincing as a blind girl, her performance is strong -- you wish there was a better movie to support it. Adrien Brody also fares well, but it's time Cherry Jones starts getting bigger roles that are worthy of her talent.
Roger Deakins gives the film a great look and texture, but Shyamalan's shot composition is unusually weak. Unbreakable, though a mediocre film, featured his most accomplished camera-work, reminiscent of Hitchcock in the way he used motion and composition to further the narrative. But here, Shyamalan just seems lazy. Not only in how he sets up his shots, but in his writing, his direction -- pretty much the whole picture.
Somewhere in here there's the potential for a good film, but almost everything in The Village is so poorly conceived or executed, that it's hardly worth speculating. The Village would be an embarrassment for any director, but especially one as prominent and self-promoting as Shyamalan. One can only hope that he gets back on track before he loses all credibility as a filmmaker.
1 1/2 out of 4 stars