Well directed, but the plot puts holes in the film

Rating: 6/10 (5 February 2007)

Like many of his films, M. Night Shyamalan's latest suspense film has many things going for it. For one, Shyamalan is a very talented director. He has a great grasp of what it takes to direct art and is very obviously influenced by a master, Alfred Hitchcock. His attention to artistic details, including mis-en-scene, color, kinetics, framing, diegetic manipulation and so forth are all top-rate. He peopled the film with a very capable cast. And he's very capable of plotting very twistily. This film has a great number of surprises and if you don't like being fooled, you will not like this film. Despite the fact that you go in knowing that there will be a very major plot twist, he still gets you. That's impressive.
Of course, there are some glaring problems with this work. First of all, the dialogue is filled with excessive verbiage and unnatural phrasing. It's not quite inane, like Lucas' latest endeavors and fortunately, after being immersed in it long enough, you stop noticing it, but it immediately distances the viewer. Secondly, it's lacking in story. True, Shyamalan is a very capable plotter, but when it comes to providing a strong and compelling story, this film lacks it. Motivations and characters don't always follow correctly and he creates a particular character, seemingly because he needed that character to tie his plot together, which takes away from the writing's credibility and also threatens to expose his plot--which I was usually able to keep ahead of.the plot, although at times, I was indeed fooled like most. Lastly, the film isn't able to keep itself controlled because of the need to follow the plot. Holes exist and inconsistencies appear that aren't really explainable, despite my attempts to defend them.
When the film ended, I thought I saw one beautifully directed, well acted, but ultimately shallow film, particularly because of the emphasis on plot over story. With the right co-writer or script, I think he's going to be capable of a whole lot more, but I think it's time to take the actual storywriting a little bit out of his hands. It helped the aforementioned Lucas, it will likely help Shyamalan. Still, as far as a suspense thriller with a whole lot of surprising craziness and strong direction, it remains quite watchable. But I'm guessing it will be a divisive film to its audience. 6/10. Make your own call.