Well Photographed with a Silly Plot. A Poor Man's "Twilight Zone".

Rating: Null/10 (30 July 2004)

Even if you're a follower of M. Night Shyamalan's first three films, his latest effort will test both your intelligence and patience as a viewer. "The Village" is a beautifully-photographed, goose-bumpy stinker with a (you guessed it) twist ending.
It seems Mr. Shyamalan is content in making the same movie over and over again, and though the plot, characters and settings may be different in each film, there is still that terribly clever plot twist.
What the surprise in "The Village" is, I won't say because I don't want to spoil it for fans of this sort of thing. However, by the film's end, I will say I felt cheated. I groaned out loud because I couldn't believe the final twist could be that silly. I was wrong.
The late, great Rod Serling wrote these kinds of morality plays 40 some years ago but those were classic examples of mood and storytelling. Most of these "Twilight Zone" episodes taught a moral lesson or commented on a social issue and many of them had an O. Henry-inspired twist ending. These scripts also had a wry, satiric sense of humor and were crafted with great skill by Mr. Serling. The script for "The Village" is not.
As a director, Shyamalan creates a foreboding atmosphere and a few chilling moments but his flat, clunky screenplay fails both he and the audience as the film draws us to its rather mundane ending.
Shyamalan's terrific cast of actors tries hard but even the seasoned pros can only do so much with some of this corny and stilted dialogue. I hope these actors were paid very well for their work here.
Of the ensemble, William Hurt does the best, especially since the dialogue seems to flow naturally off his tongue. One of my favorite actresses, Sigourney Weaver, is basically wasted in a colorless role.
Joaquin Phoenix is dour and very serious indeed and pretty newcomer, Bryce Dallas Howard, has plenty of charisma as Mr. Phoenix's love interest. In the role of the "village idiot," Adrien Brody is way over the top but he's obviously having a rollicking good time.
The film looks spectacular thanks to the rich, burnished cinematography by Roger Deakins, who photographs the backgrounds in "The Village" as if they were paintings created by Dutch masters. Kudos to Mr. Deakins for an outstanding effort.
Though Mr. Shyamalan has created some interesting characters and situations in "The Village," they're basically abandoned for what is a rather ridiculous and implausible ending. But by that time, no one really seems to care.