Unwatchable

Rating: Null/10 (1 December 2000)

Why are some people so enthralled by this perfect example of a sophomore slump? UNBREAKABLE was a mess. I liken it to PT Anderson's debacle MAGNOLIA after such a promising start with HARD 8 and BOOGIE NIGHTS. Shyamalan clearly believes his own hype (not that the doc. on SIXTH SENSE didn't already prove that). What was this movie?? This from the man who made THE SIXTH SENSE??? No way...
I thought the way MNS would handle the subject matter would be much better, much more profound and beautifully. It wasn't. Instead, it was self- indulgent and extremely self aware. It reminded me of a student thesis film, long languid shots, scattered and jarring style, the kind of movie where you can practically hear the directors arm breaking while he/she is furiously patting themselves on the back. The character of David isn't the flawed hero we want to love; he is robotic, and this doesn't change throughout the movie. Are we supposed to like a guy who we first meet while he is attempting to cheat on his wife?
Sam Jackson played the same character he plays in EVERY role, a variation on his PULP FICTION character. And the ending was much less the "shock" it was touted as. Freeze framing with a supered text? C'mon! Were they necessary? If so, why not over a black card?? I felt like I was watching a mastercard commercial.
This movie needed to be stripped down. Perhaps it would have been more endearing if the character actually had to prove something to the son and wife he had been neglecting. Making Jackson the wise mentor rather than the shapeshifting character he was would have helped.
For his next movie, Shyamalan needs to be more concerned with making his stories human rather than his super "shocking" endings. This is a HUGE disappointment.