Disagree

Rating: Null/10 (1 August 2004)

I would have to say that I disagree with most of what the other person who commented has said. I too figured out the twists of the movie about a half hour in, but to me this didn't harm the film too greatly. I felt that this was Shyamaln's most mature work to date in that it relied less on the twists and focused more on the message and reflection of society. The biggest problem I had with the film was in the dialogue and in the performances. I thought William Hurt was terrible, misemphasizing lines that were poorly written to begin with. The dialogues were almost unbearable at times and their delivery did not aid them in the least. Adrien Brody was the bright spot. His performance was easily the film's best and was probably a direct result of the fact that his character rarely spoke. Noah Percy, his character, was the movie's hinge though, and Brody played the character very well, if slightly derivative. I wasn't impressed when I left the theater with the film so much as with what Shyamalan was trying to say. The film has its moments of suspense and intensity but if you are seeing it for those reasons you will be disappointed. Essentially it is a movie about us as a society, how we use fear to preserve innocence and how those tactics fail us every time. From the fire and brimstone of hell, to the WMDs in Iraq, we use fear of boogey men to control and manipulate. See the film for this reason and you will walk away happy. See it for horror and you will not. I found thinking about it and about the world in the car on the way home more fun than actually watching the movie though.