How I miss these type of movies

Rating: 10/10 (13 December 2001)

This movie is not perfect. And it has an ending which could have been better. But I've thought about it a lot, and I am satisfied with the ending. Apparently, many were not. How one could enjoy The Sixth Sense and not enjoy this movie is beyond me. I really enjoy a movie that doesn't rely on a lot of pointless violence, or pointless dialogue to tell a story. This movie is so refreshing to see after the onslaught of "action packed" movies I have seen the last 5 or 10 years.
But perhaps the lack of good movies from hollywood recently has caused me to like this film more than I should. This may be the case. The movie is great, but falls short of a masterpiece. But it is still easily one of the top 5 films of 2000. If there were more good movies out of hollywood in the year 2000, I probably wouldn't think as much of this film. So I may be partially biased from watching too many bad movies.
The Acting was superb. His use of child actors in 2 movies (and it looks like more) is interesting and refreshing. They are used in a meaningful way, not just as plot devices. Willis paints a good picture of an every day guy. And Jackson portrayed his character perfectly- almost too perfectly. The camera work and editing was superb, no complaints at all. The scene with the swimming pool being the best example of this.
The climax is perhaps one of the best sequences I've seen in a few years. No dialogue was necessary. The action was minimal yet effective and intense. While I suspect more people wanted more of this type of action, it doesn't belong in this movie.
And then we come to the ending which I of course will not reveal. I am satisfied with it. Perhaps I, and many were disappointed that the ending is too perfect. We may have wanted something less clear. And the text at the end of the movie was unnecessary. This seems thrown in to appease people who like a movie "wrapped up"
As usual, I do not recommend this movie to people who only like movies with lots of action. But if you "get" movies like The Sixth Sense and Psycho, then you will "get" and enjoy this movie.