I see dull people...

Rating: Null/10 (27 November 2000)

NPR was right.
I'd heard an unflattering review of Unbreakable on NPR the night before I saw it, but still I held out hope that some of the magic we all loved in Sixth Sense would reappear and salvage the film.
It didn't.
The characters are not compelling in *any* degree ... Sam Jackson is a total crackpot, Bruce seems about as slow and naive as an eight-year-old schoolgirl, and his kid is *way* too sensitive. I realize Bruce was intended to be a flawed "everyman," but at least make him an *interesting* flawed "everyman"... throughout the film, I couldn't force myself to care a lick about him.
The premise is fantastic, the acting was fine, but the writing and direction were horrible. It seemed as though the film couldn't decide whether it wanted to be serious or a self-parody ... it ended up being an awkward mix of both. Willis's "hero" scenes in particular evoked a theatre-full of eye rolling and exasperated sighs.
As for the "surprise ending".... if it evoked a "Wow!" in Sixth Sense, this time it pulled out little more than a "OK, whatever." By the time it came around, we simply didn't care.
All this being said, I have to admit that the movie did stay with me after I left the theatre. The premise itself is extremely compelling - I would love to see it carried out in a better fashion, either as a more carefully-directed serious film, or as a lighter parody.