A beautiful, modern day fable.

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2001)

I reckon this is the sort of film you'll either love or hate. I think it's more of a guy film - most of the women I've spoken to really didn't like it. This is because the film is told mainly from the male perspective - little things such as when the married Bruce Willis character removes his wedding ring before coming on to a sexy young woman; then when he fails to woo her, he calmly covers his tracks by pretending that he was just being 'friendly' all along - I suspect a female audience will find little sympathy with such a character, whilst a male audience will be more forgiving (especially bearing in mind the state of his lonely, sexless marriage).

Admittedly, the film is at times very slow. Personally, I found this a refreshing quality in a mainstream film - it gave you a chance to really savor the characters and the atmosphere, but I can understand why some people found it a drag.
Otherwise I thought the film was excellent - an intriguing plot with supernatural undertones (implied rather than explicitly presented, and therefore all the more effective). The director follows the structure of his previous film, "The Sixth Sense", allowing the story to gradually unfold. The final twenty minutes - moving from the hero's sequence of self-discovery of his true nature right through to the final bitter twist are absolutely magnificent. In fact, although it shares the same haunting, bittersweetness of "The Sixth Sense", I found this film more mature and thought-provoking; it's also a lot less compromising, which is probably why it was a bit of a disappointment at the box-office.
In addition, the director treats both his stars with a large degree of respect. This is Willis's coolest role, and possibly his best performance; he deserves an Oscar nomination, though he almost certainly won't get one... "Unbreakable", "The Sixth Sense", "Twelve Monkeys", "Armageddon", "Pulp Fiction", the "Die Hard" trilogy - he must be the most iconic moviestar since Steve McQueen, able to combine drama, comedy, action. Samuel Jackson is also in fine form - gone are the over-the-top self-parodying histrionics of his recent performances. Instead he provides a wonderful foil to Willis's laconic hero - flamboyant, eloquent, sinister, and amazingly charismatic.
Overall, a first-rate drama - for once Hollywood has decided to ignore the kiddies and make a movie aimed at intelligent adults!