Movie Review

The Village

M. Night Shyamalan is a really talented screenwriter and director. I've really admired his work, more so on Unbreakable than on the other two films. His gift for the suspenseful is only sustained further by the drama that he brings to each one of his tormented characters.

As of recently, though, that gift seems to be slipping a way. The ending of "Signs" was surprisingly mediocre, but it is nowhere near as awful as the entirety of "The Village.? It doesn't take long to realize that this movie wasn't kept under wraps to protect story secrets. If any moment of this wooden and almost unwatchable film were shown in full, people would never want to go see it.

It's too bad because the plot has real promise. It tells the story of a colony of people who because of past tragedy have decided to move their families to a closed location so as to live in peace. The village would serve as a haven for them to rebuild their lives. Only as the film opens, it is far from what they were expecting. A character's son has been mauled to death and the livestock have been skinned and killed by something living in the woods surrounding the village.

We learn from the chief elder, Edward Walker (William Hurt), that there are actually creatures living in those woods and that there is a pact between them. If no one from the village wanders into their woods, the creatures will not wander into their village. There is also some business concerning the color that attracts them: red. If anyone sees the color, they must bury it.

These are laws that the people have generally abided by, except for some of the riskier boys who on occasion turn their backs to the woods and see how long it takes before they chicken out and run. Just when a character becomes the victim of a horrible act of violence, it is up to Walker's courageous daughter Ivey (Bryce Dallas Howard) to cross through the woods towards the towns in order to get medicines.

It's not the most solid of stories but there is a lot of material for intrigue and suspense. Only unlike Shyamalan's other three movies, the execution of this one is really off. "The Sixth Sense" told a good story and wowed us with the surprise ending. Here, this movie is so dreary and boring that if he used the same ending I would need substantial proof that any one of these people were ever alive.

Unbelievably lifeless, depressing, and sullen performances are given by Joaquin Phoenix, William Hurt, Adrian Brody, and other very talented people. It is an utterly joyless experience watching these people and all you wish is for the ridiculous looking creatures to finally come and end their miserable lives.

Then we get to Shyamalan's surprise ending, which registers at about a zero on the effectiveness scale. To call it underwhelming would be an overstatement. This is a lack of effort. It offers nothing to think about other than how desperate the director was to continue a streak of surprise endings. M. Night Shyamalan is a talented filmmaker but this is just a complete disappointment and an indicator that his formula is running out of steam.

Craig's Grade: D+

A	10.9%
B	41.8%
C	31.8%
D	15.3%
F	0.3%