Yet another reason to hate hippies (warning: secrets revealed)

Rating: 4/10 (17 August 2004)

The correct title of this film should be The Commune.

It's telling that two of the main actors in this movie are William Hurt and Sigorney Weaver --two aging hippies performing characters who live out the flower power ideal. The Village isn't centered around a turn-of-the-century village, but a contemporary hippie commune, filled with frustrated whimps who are too afraid of death to deal with life. The main point of the film is that you can't run away from tragedy, yet these spineless folk tune themselves out completely, bringing their clueless children with them. As a result, they end up with kids who live in mortal fear of ketchup, but seem strangely comforted by mustard. --and none of this nonsense is scary. Crosby, Stills, and Nash once sang, "Teach your parents well." These grown-ups should be whacked with a paddle.
One more thing: there are no "monsters" in this movie. It's all a lie (in more ways than one). I thought hollywood had gotten past the stage of resolving the story with, "it was all a dream." Apparently not. The Village teases us with glimpses of something supernatural, before it totally deflates us with something maddeningly mundane. What a cop-out.
Bryce Dallas Howard though, is this film's saving grace. Let none of this rant (or the awful movie it scorns) take away from her sublime, heartbreaking, and inspiring performance. She was wonderful.