More style than substance.

Rating: 4/10 (8 December 2000)

When I'm really enjoying a movie, I'm usually not consciously aware of cinematic techniques. I might think about these elements in retrospect or on repeat viewings, but I feel for the most part that it's a movie's job to draw me into the story and make me forget about the technical stuff. With "Unbreakable," I found myself being much more entertained by the technical stuff than I was by the story -- much as I felt as I watched Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut."
The cinematography is brilliant in this movie. Every shot feels storyboarded and very carefully planned, which is not a bad thing if it's in support of a strong story and script. I found the writing to be thin -- like a short story dragged out to the point that it feels way too slow. Also, the evocative music seemed to signify something greater than what I was seeing.
Bruce Willis seems drugged and kind of stupid here. He was muted in "The Sixth Sense," but still seemed intelligent and full of emotion. Robin Wright Penn has a couple of nice scenes and gets to show some depth of emotion. Samuel L. Jackson is always interesting and adds some nice touches to an underwritten character.
There's no doubt that M. Night Shyamalan is a major talent with decades of strong filmmaking ahead of him. His sense of visual style and forboding atmosphere is second to none.