Sheer cinematic magic...

Rating: Null/10 (5 July 2001)

"I'm not a prophet or a stone age man,/Just a mortal with potential of a superman,/I'm living on/I'm tethered to the logic of Homo Sapien,/Can't take my eyes from the great salvation/of bulls**t faith"
--David Bowie "Quicksand"
When I first heard about "Unbreakable", I got the feeling that I usually get off present-day movies that look like they might be worth investigating; I call this feeling "a grave disturbance in the Force". Of course, the Kubrickian approach to the marketing helped immensely. No one outside the people who have seen the film, to this date, have any idea what it's all about. Such silence I will keep as best I can throughout this review. The last thing I wish to be known as is a spoilsport.
I suppose that the best place to start is with the film's director/writer/producer, M. Night Shyamalan. It is good to see that there is finally someone in the movie industry who rewards his audience for having an attention span longer than five seconds. To truly be able to appreciate "Unbreakable", an audience member has to watch every frame of what goes down, no matter how out there it is. The most significant achievement Shyamalan makes with this movie is his perfect blend of images and words (which, considering the film's comic book subtext, is extremely appropriate). The problem with most films is their habit of focusing too much on imagery, none of it very imaginative (i.e. big explosions, ripped limbs, guns going off by the thousand). On the other hand, there are films in our current day and age that swing the other way, way too much pointless chatter to make up for the fact that the films themselves have inadequate plots, stories, or sense to go with it ("Pulp Fiction", anyone?). No such problems here; Shyamalan's dialogue is as spare and economical as that of Dashiell Hammett or James M. Cain and his imagery speaks a thousand words. One image in particular comes to mind: the immediate aftermath of the train wreck (the only plot element that has been publicly released), as David Dunn steps into the ER waiting room surrounded by all the families of his fellow passengers. In that one sequence, Dunn's relationship with his son, wife, and the world at large are summed up magnificently.
The acting is definitely no problem. Bruce Willis gives the most restrained performance that I have seen in any film of his as David Dunn. He conveys the sense of a man lost in the world he lives in but not knowing where he belongs. How many people go through their life like he does, trying so hard to fit in that he denies what he truly is? As for Samuel L. Jackson (one of the few good things to come out of "Pulp Fiction"), he gives yet another superior performance as comic art dealer, Elijah Price. As played by Jackson, he is a man consumed with a quest, one which he considers nothing less than his life mission. By the end, he lives up to the nickname of his biblical namesake: the Weeping Prophet.
Now, as to the ending, maybe it's because I have an easier time believing that such things come to pass, but I had no problem with it whatsoever. Yes, it was a shocker. Yes, I did not see it coming. BUT it was the ultimate revelation that had been built up from frame one. I fail to understand why people have such a hard time with it. My only thought is that they think that it is very improbable. To this I say improbable does not mean impossible. If one is willing to accept everything fantastical that has gone before, it would seem to me as though this would have been EASIER to believe than anything else in the script.
It will be very interesting to see where Mr. Shyamalan goes from here. So far, he's delivered two films that outtrumps most anything else in the cineplex. Here's hoping the next suprise up his sleeve is just as compelling as this one.