When this movie came out, it garnered a huge amount of hype and acclaim, and I regarded this film as something of a masterpiece. It represented a type of quality filmmaking and storytelling that only men like Hitchcock seemed to master. It was one of the few films that initially established M. Night Shyamalan as a promising director of quality substance (a reputation that would only last for his next two films, Unbreakable and Signs; the rest of his work became arguably weaker and weaker, until reaching rock bottom with The Last Airbender).
The story is pretty evenly-paced, but it is a slow-moving one. There's not a whole lot of conflict involved with this, but it's built pretty sturdily on the occasional paranormal fright scene and plenty of mystery.
What really matters here is the story, and it is perfectly constructed. It's most famous for its twist ending, but it's not just an arbitrary narrative trick; in this case, the whole movie was built around that twist, so that it holds up on multiple viewings and gives new meaning every time. With quality characters that you can actually care for, and some strong themes concerning people and their gifts, the rest of the story stands strongly on its own and has plenty of insight.
This film is immortalized with solid photography and editing. Acting is extremely delicate and subtle, with great nuanced performances by Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment. Writing shows some penchant for a little too much exposition (a standard complaint for most of Shyamalan's work, and it really only shows when compared to his later features), but is otherwise very good. This production doesn't have anything lavish, but it makes good use of its utilitarian sets, props, and costumes. Music is nice.
4.5/5 (Entertainment: Pretty Good | Story: Perfect | Film: Very Good)
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