So close to being great

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2006)

It's really frustrating to find a movie that comes so close to being great and only a few minor faults are holding it back. Luckily, it's not so frustrating that it ruins the experience. Unbreakable is still an intense and emotional movie and I wish M. Night Shyamalan was still making movies like this.
Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, a man unhappy with his marriage and his relationship with his son. David is trying to get a job in New York so he can move out of the house and move his life in his own direction. When his train back from New York derails, David is the only survivor and he is sought out by a fragile man named Elijah, who believes David is special.
This could easily be cheesy, but Shyamalan wisely plays up the comic-book feeling of the plot while maintaining a certain sense of reality. Bruce Willis is a good choice as the passive David, a man not sure where he fits in the world. Samuel Jackson, always good, is great here; it's probably his best role that I've seen since Pulp Fiction. Robin Wright Penn also has some touching moments as Willis's despairing wife, as does Spencer Treat Clark as his neglected but loving son.
The problem is not with the story or cast, but with the direction. There are some awkward transitions and some moments that should have been played out longer; it sometimes feels like Shyamalan is copping out on giving us real drama and instead giving us an outline of what happened. But no matter; it's still an intriguing movie and it has some great images. And while it may not be on par with his The Sixth Sense and Signs, it comes close, and that's good enough.