decent start, then fell apart

Rating: 3/10 (30 May 2005)

the first hour or so was okay. but the second half, when the 'twist' came into play, just didn't work. the 'implausibles' just mounted up and made it impossible for any reasonable viewer to continue to suspend their disbelief.
some examples:
1. william hurt is supposed to have helped establish the village community because he thinks that the modern world is brutal and barbaric. yet he allows his blind daughter, thoroughly unused to the modern world, to go wandering off to find medicine! this is just crazy. he is supposed to be reassured by the fact that she is acting out of love and this will protect her. this does not fit with the disillusioned man he is supposed to be.
2. given the ages of Ivy, Lucius, Ivy's sister, etc. the community must be going about 20 years. so, how many cases of breast cancer, testicular cancer, kidney failure, complications in pregnancy and childbirth, strokes, etc happened during this period? and now because Ivy has a (very) recent love it all comes apart? ludicrous.
3. generally, would people really think it is worth it? all the 'needless' deaths, and other harms? remember these people are not religious fanatics who think the modern world is ungodly. they supposedly believe that it's dangerous. but the dangers of such severe isolation are ignored?
4. 'those we don't speak of' are just not scary-looking enough. some testosterone-pumped young men would try attacking them with pitchforks or something.
5. haven't any of the young people noticed that when those we don't speak of' visit uncle fred and auntie mary always seem to be missing?
6. what about the rest of America? we are supposed to believe that some official has been paid to redirect air traffic. so, what about the FBI and other law enforcement agencies? wouldn't they wonder what is going on in this community? are the kids being educated properly? are they being abused? are people (noah) getting away with murder? to say nothing of the fact that the tabloid TV channels would have reporters crawling all over the place.
7. this community could not be viable unless it was huge. there would simply be too much inbreeding. but a big community would make the 'secret' impossible to keep.
8. the continual restatement of how much ivy and lucius love each other destroyed the love story that the writer/director had developed.
9. hurt's performance was the most wooden i've seen since pinocchio (or hurt's last performance).
bottomline: lazy writing. the basic premise was okay but it could not be sustained and shyamalan didn't face up to that.