Not M. Night's best but worth a look-

Rating: 9/10 (30 July 2004)

***Spoilers***
So, this is not M. Night's best. But it is not his worst. I thought 'The Village' was a well acted and directed movie. Excluding the story.
I expected for a film exceeding 'The Sixth Sense' which I did not find here. But, I did find some great acting. Bryce Dallas Howard was fabulous. Her raw talent just glows and she plays her character amazingly. Joaquin Phoenix was great though his speech can bug me at some points. He speaks quietly and scratchily. Yes, I know that this was required for the character but I have also noticed this in other movies. I found Adrien Brody playing his role frighteningly well.
I found two plot twists in the story- a little one and a very obvious large one.
The little twist was when Brody's character stabbed Lucius, Phoenix's role. The love story was my favorite part of the plot. Both Phoenix and Howard gave it so convincingly.
The big "twist" was very lame. Lame not because it was a dumb idea but lame because it was obvious. I could see it from the beginning but I still thought it was interesting.
I even liked the ending. My fellow theater-goers seemed disappointed but I didn't see where else they go with the story.
One thing I found peculiar was the absence of the "Rules". I had read them everywhere- Let the bad color not be seen, etc. I thought it awfully strange that they weren't in the movie.
The fright level was pretty much gone for me. I didn't think it was scary what-so-ever. If anything, it was somewhat intense.
I didn't think it was an bad movie at all. Sure, the main plot wasn't too wonderful but if you like good directing, great acting and a sweet love story, I would recommend it.