The Village Review; WARNING: SPOILER ALERT SPOILER ALERT

Rating: Null/10 (2 August 2004)

One more time. SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER
OK, this is my first review on this site, so bear with me. I have found a way to appreciate every movie I see, including King Arthur and I loved the the last two Matrices. But, back to the Village. I saw this movie the opening night. I walked out and said: "Oh my God, that was a s*** movie." However, as I said, I have found ways to appreciate all movies, and, looking back on it, this movie was spectacular right up until the twist. SPOILER:
Twist 1: The creatures don't exist. They are created by the village elders to keep the other villagers from asking questions about the "towns," the world outside of Covington Woods. Which leads me to twist 2.
Twist 2: Not as bad as the first. I was kinda thinking this throughout the whole movie and before it came out. The people moved into Covington Woods, cut off from society, to escape their pain. SPOILERS CONTINUED
OK, readers may think that those twists sucked. About twist 1. There are certain scenes throughout the film that don't fit in with this. Events that even the elders cannot explain. This leads me to believe that the creatures are, in fact, real. This makes me appreciate the film a whole lot more. It makes it seem as though the elders made a true choice by moving into the woods. That they risked so much just to escape their pain.
Concerning Twist 2. I saw this coming when I watched the making of it on Starz. It seems silly at first. Almost as though there is no real plot of the movie, it seems like it was all for nothing. However, the twist, when mulled over a bit, is quite powerful. The elders attempt to hide their past lives and their grief in black boxes. It was really quite (sounds hokey) moving. They tried so hard to escape their past lives. Lives where they lost loved ones, or loved ones were hurt. They try to bury they sadness in boxes, never to be opened again. However, the first scene is a funeral in the village. They realize that they cant, ever, truly escape the pains of life. SPOILER END SPOILER END
The acting, although at times a bit cheesy (the dialogue seemed too perfect: no contractions, no hyperboles), was overall pretty good. Joaquin Phoenix does a lot with a little, Adrien Brody plays a very well done mentally ill guy. Ed Howard? I think thats his name. Uses random pauses in his speaking that seem strange at first, but end up really making the words seem much more real and powerful.
Finally, my favorite part of the movie. Small, but this is actually my favorite scene in any movie I've ever seen. When Joaquin grabs Ivy's hand just before the creature does and the violin's going in the background: UNBELIEVABLE SCENE