Retro: Lady In The Water

LADY IN THE WATER

A 21st century fairytale by M. Night Shayamalan

2006: Warner Bros. Pictures

2006, Fantasy/Fairlytale, Rated PG-13
Distributed by Warner Bros.

            I've always been a fan of M. Night Shyamalan. His films are unlike any out there. Sometimes he takes his style too far, rubs his audience the wrong way, and people start to lose interest. He has sort of faded from the public eye recently because of a few flops and backseat producing jobs. I had seen all of his post-Sixth Sense films except Lady in the Water. No particular reason; I had just never gotten around to it. So finally, after a friend telling me it was worth a watch, I got my hands on a copy.
            It starts out as per usual. You've got your long sustained shots of main actors displaying their talents. Paul Giamatti plays his usual down-and-out dude. Then he discovers a naked red-head in the pool of his apartment complex, and he gets even more depressed because he has to deal with her. There are wolves chasing the girl and she needs to catch a ride with an eagle to get home safely. It's supposed to be a bedtime story, but it feels a bit uneven.
            The story is very odd, and much of it needs to be explained to both the viewer and Giamatti's character. So, you spend a lot of the run time being told what's going to happen in the movie later on, because this one Asian woman knows the story already. Shayamalan, although normally great at capturing the human element in terrifying situations, couldn't pull it off with this picture. All the characters, with a few exceptions, aren't as interesting as those in his other films. Maybe there are just too many of them here.
            Having said that, there are some great scenes, great performances, and an epic ending. Also, Shayamalan plays his most substantial and most personal role in one of his own films to date. He plays a writer. I liked how this film was almost meta in a way. There was so much talk of stories, plot lines, and writers. Shayamalan turned an inward eye and asked: Why do we tell stories? Can mere bedside entertainment become reality? The director/writer can really make you think, even if he has a lackluster frame to work with, like that of Lady in the Water. Other great side character performances include Sarita Choudhury as Shayamalan's sister. She's hysterical and brings a light side to the far-fetched discoveries of the film. Jeffery Wright, always excellent in supporting roles, was a great choice for the crossword-puzzle-addicted father and tenant.
            I dug the ending. Shayamalan does what he did in Signs, revealing a whole lot after previously only showing very little. Creatures that were only mentioned throughout the film finally unveil themselves, and they are the best visual effect in the film. I thought the wolves looked pretty bad, but the tree gorillas were dark and twisted and well-animated.
            So now I'm going to rank Shayamalan's films from The Sixth Sense to The Happening, best to worst, because I've seen them all. I don't include The Last Airbender because it is so very different from his other writing/directing jobs...

1. Signs
2. Unbreakable
3. The Sixth Sense
4. The Happening
5. The Village
6. Lady in the Water

          Never thought I'd say I liked a movie less than The Village, but there you have it. Post your rankings of his movies if you feel like it. I'd be very curious...

          Side note: After Earth will hopefully be a return to form for Shayamalan, although he isn't the scribe, but that may just be a good thing this time around...check it out.