UNREACHABLE is More Like It !!!

Rating: 5/10 (28 July 2001)

Much of the promotion of UNBREAKABLE informed the public that this movie would have the same writer/director as 1999's SIXTH SENSE,the same male lead, BRUCE WILLIS. That in mind, we were downright told that we were being treated to another "new style" of thriller. Afterall, SIXTH SENSE kept most of its audiences guessing up to the end, just like HITCHCOCK films did decades ago until the masses finally figured out HITCH's alternating plot lines. With clever new writer/director on the horizon M.NIGHT SHYAMALAN, I figured that he would keep us entertained for sometime. It can take sometime to learn what makes someone tick, to decipher their tricks, and when you have a talented writer in your midst, you want to relish them. So if you enjoyed the SIXTH SENSE and think that you're in for a surefire thriller that you will enjoy, well think again.... As a director SHYAMALAN is very crafty and has lots of style. He knows how to build impending doom,disaster. At times he almost overbuilds this tension, particularly when he has nothing to back it up with as is the case of UNBREAKABLE. UNREACHABLE is more like it. Like WELLES who had the mountainous task of topping 1941's CITIZEN KANE, SHYAMALAN really should have taken his time with his follow up project. The storyline of UNBREAKABLE slowly, and I do mean slowly, begins to build where the audience will try to keep tally of the clues to conclude the outcome. The problem with this movie is that as a completed motion picture, SHYAMALAN has failed miserably as a writer on this movie. You can overlook credibility when you are so awed by a clever concept. There is nothing clever about this climax, it is downright odious ! When SAMUEL L. JACKSON reveals to BRUCE WILLIS how and why they fit into each other's life, WILLIS looks as if he has just been told who was behind JFK's assassination. Watching this dud on video with several friends, we looked at each other right after JACKSON's 'revelation', and in unison we said, "What a let-down !" Personally, I was hoping that WILLIS was going to slip into his DIE HARD character, whip out his gun, shoot the wheelchair bound JACKSON right in the forehead while simultaneously exclaiming, "Yippy Kiya Moth&@ F*#k%r !" Watch at your own risk for there's definitely more style than substance ! ! !