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13/8/2006
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Lady in the Water (2006)
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Two weeks ago I read a review from the bearded Harry Knowles over at Aint it Cool News about this film. He said that you will either love it or hate it. I can see where he is coming from after seeing it for myself. I think to enjoy this film you have to be willing to believe what the story tells you and also be in the right mood for it. Also it helps not to be a film critic. Riskily Shyamalan has a film critic as a character who is so utterly anti-social and hateable, I reckon that is a reason why reviewers have rated it badly. I have a question which is nothing to do with the review, do film reviewers actually enjoy films? Sure you get the odd one who says everything he sees is amazing but most just say everything is absolutely terrible and you should be shot if you lower yourself to their level and see it. I think film reviewers should be hired for newspapers who actually like and appreciate films which they aren't just told are classics.
Anyway end of the rant and time to tell you that I am in the first category. I absolutely loved this movie, M. Night Shyamalan has done it again with a superb fairytale which had me thinking 'this is the best film I've ever seen' upon leaving the cinema. My opinion has toned itself down a little since then but I still think that this is brilliant. Paul Giamatti is brilliant as Cleveland Heep a lonely caretaker for an Apartment complex. When Story (yes ok the character name isn't great), a Water Nymph appears in his swimming pool his world gets turned upside down. Shyamalan likes to use repeat actors in his films, people he knows he can trust. That is why Bryce Dallas Howard is back in this one after the Village. She plays the mysterious story very well and whilst she has few lines she keeps the air of mystery very well. The director turns up in the film as well, he plays an important player in the story. He has appeared in all his previous films and this is his first big role. The Storyline is brilliant, the acting is superb. The soundtrack is one of the best I have ever heard. It all makes for a great story. The fact remains however that if you are not ready to be taken into this fairytale you will not enjoy it. You could find it very cheesy and very stupid. It is only when you immerse yourself into the world created by Shyamalan that you will love this movie.
In the past I have found that Shyamalan films have had to grow on me (with the exception of the Sixth Sense) but now they have I regard his as one of the best filmmakers in the world, his films are such that I want to just keep on coming back to them and watching over and over again. He may well be the most original and best filmmaker currently in Hollywood. In a time when special effects are winning over plot he is a welcome breath of fresh air. Sure the Village may have been a bit off form but this has put him right back in contention.
This is the ultimate fairytale and I hope that you all get a chance to see it and form your own opinions on M. Knight Shyamalans Lady in the Water.
Review by Jonathan Little
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