And intelligent movie that wasn't what people expected

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2004)

I for one loved this movie with beautiful cinematography, an intelligent script, and wonderful intense acting. A lot of my friends didn't like it because they were expecting a scary horror film, but i for one didn't go into the theatre expecting one nor was i expecting something different. I saw this on opening night and enjoyed it very much even with the crowdedness of the theatre seats. The twists in this I thought were very different and had a point to them that made people think "Wow, why would someone do that?" Then you understand why they are in the secluded village and then you realize that people will never be able to hide from or keep crime away as long as there is love in the world. Because with love comes jealousy and heartbreak which brings peopole to doing things they never thought that they would ever be doing in a million years.
That brings me to that characters in the story. There is Lucius the quiet, fearless young man who wants to journey into the woods to get to the "towns" and fetch medical supplies after a boy dies because of lack of medical supplies. Jouquin Phoenix did a wonderful job, but he is only in the first forty five minutes and it makes u sad to see him go. He falls is in love with Bryce Dallas Howard's character, Ivy Walker and that is in fact what this movie turns out to be. M. Night Shyamalan has made a love story. Howard was okay as the blind daughter of one of the elders, but i didn't find her very convincing with the blindness. Other than that she did a great job. Ivy is best friends with Noah Percy, a young man who has a learning disability. He is played by Adrien Brody. Personally I think that his performance stands out among all. He created this character that is in love with Ivy as well, but she doesn't know. And once he finds out that the other two are together it leads to some unfortunate events that lead to the twists of the story. But Adrien has created a character with depth that has some quite funny moments that provide some comic relief to this movie.But towards the end you can't help but feel sorry for him even after all that happened, and it is quite sad. He well deserves a nomination of some sort for that performance. William Hurt does a fantastic job as well. Even with its some flaws it is a great movie that is for mature teens and adults that aren't looking for the next "Halloween" As M. Night said it is him still, but just "grown up"