Movie Review: LADY IN THE WATER Author: Bill Ramey Tuesday, July 18, 2005, 12:00 PM TEXAS TIME U.S. Release Date: July 21, 2006 Distributor: Warner Bros. Director: M. Night Shyamalan Writing Credits: M. Night Shyamalan Cast: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban, Freddy Rodriguez, Sarita Choudhury, Jared Harris, Bill Irwin Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Thriller MPAA Rating: PG-13 OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.ladyinthewatermovie.com TRAILERS: www.apple.com/trailers I'll start by being straight up with y'all -- I dig M. Night Shyamalan's films. Adored UNBREAKABLE, loved THE SIXTH SENSE, really enjoyed SIGNS, and I thought THE VILLAGE was more than OK (It get's a bad rap for some reason IMO). But with all that said, I went into LADY IN THE WATER with a clean slate and planning to judge it based on it's own merits and not those of Mr. Shyamalan’s past endeavors. When one sees a “Shyamalan Film,” there’s an expectation of lot’s of suspense and a plot twist at the end, right? With LADY IN THE WATER, you get that -- sort of. Paul Giamatti is, as always, excellent in this film. He is Cleveland Heap, a middle-age superintendent of an apartment complex in Philadelphia called The Cove. Cleveland is a broken man -- once an educated professional who gave up on his career because of personal tragedy (Or maybe he‘s broken simply because he‘s an Eagle fan). There are all sorts of bizarre and multicultural characters living in his domain. Among these individuals, you’ve got a dude that works out only on one side of his body (Freddie Rodriguez). There is an young Asian student and her mother (Cindy Cheung and June Kyoko Lu). A bunch of chain-smoking slackers (in a complex that is “non-smoking) sitting around talking nonsense all day. A crossword puzzle-loving father (Jeffrey Wright) and his son. Even M. Night himself is one of these eccentrics -- an aspiring author with writer’s block who lives with his sister (His book is called THE COOKBOOK and there are hints about it that made me wonder whether Night‘s character was good or bad). In the midst of all of this, there are real life creatures from a child's bedtime story lurking in and around The Cove. Working with a very talented cast and a wonderful visual design engineered by cinematographer Christopher Doyle and designer Martin Childs, Shyamalan succeeds in projecting genuine peril and suspense into this “ordinary setting.” I can't say enough about how good this film looks. Anyway, back to the story. As I said previously, Giamatti’s Cleveland runs this apartment complex, right? OK, of late, he suspects someone has been swimming in the pool at night which is prohibited. In an attempt to catch this intruder, Cleveland falls into the pool and is saved by a nymph-like young girl (Bryce Dallas Howard), who calls herself Story. She tells Cleveland that she comes from the world of water and that fierce creatures want to thwart her return to her home world. Story is what is called a "narf," a creature from the water, and her vicious adversary is known as a "scrunt," which when it finally becomes visible looks like a huge wolf with fur of grass (yes, like the grass you walk on). Story’s, uh, story is that several humans in the area have powers that they are unaware of, and these gifts will enable them to protect and lead her to her back home. Cleveland buys into this without a second thought, and proceeds to scour the complex looking for these humans with powers -- which he believes to be among the tenants. To help him determine who fits each role, Cleveland turns to Mr. Farber (Bob Balaban), an arrogant and cynical book and film critic. He is of help because he knows every possible plot devise and character and Cleveland thinks he can determine the obvious candidates. So part of the mystery of LITW is trying to figure out -- along with Cleveland -- who is whom. With that said, I thought it was rather strange that Cleveland comes to these people with his story (no pun intended) of narfs and scrunts and not a one of them thinks he’s out of his mind! This made me think whether or not the story was actually "real," or was it happening only in Cleveland's mind? Or in his journal perhaps? LADY IN THE WATER is entertaining and the performances, especially those by Giamatti, Cheung, and Balaban, are quite good. And its message that everyone’s life has purpose, is rather noble. But there are problems here nonetheless. The specifics of the “fairy tale” are too hazy and complicated to allow one to totally buy into it. Also, a nice little postscript telling us what happens to the characters is lacking. Heck, even a text epilogue like in UNBREAKABLE would have worked. It just sort of ends leaving one saying, "That’s it?” THE BOTTOM LINE: I’ve got to wonder if fans of M. Night Shyamalan are going to accept this film as it is a departure from what they are used to in his previous films. It's his funniest movie, no doubt. And while I enjoyed it and thought the acting was top-notch, it still left me wanting more out of it in the end. Of all his films, I enjoyed this one the least -- which doesn't mean I don't like it (if that makes sense). I think that perhaps LADY IN THE WATER is deeper than it appears on the surface, and may warrant an extra viewing or two to get to the bottom of things. JETT’S GRADE: C+ Bill Ramey, aka "Jett," is the founder and editor-in-chief of BATMAN ON FILM and ON-FILM.NET.