Movies made by M. Night Shyamalan -- The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs -- have made a lot of money.
This tends to obscure the fact that only The Sixth Sense was any good, although thank you in advance for your letter defending the artistic merit of little green men.
Like all film critics permitted to see in advance Shyamalan's new film, The Village, we are sworn to secrecy about what happens and to whom. We can tell you, however, that the movie starts off as a psychological thriller and then turns into a tale about the transformative power of love. Neither of these two story paths, alas, is particularly riveting.
Like all Shyamalan's films, The Village has an unusually good cast, memorable performances and lashings of tension, not to mention an atmosphere laced with dread. The director of photography here is Roger Deakins, so you know the film is beautiful and painterly to look at.
It's the storytelling that's a bit slim. You could say that The Village is a short story dressed up as a novel, and the filler is red herrings, false clues and incidents that lead nowhere.
But here it is: The residents of a 19th century village live in fear of the fierce creatures living just outside their hamlet. Nobody ventures into the woods surrounding the village, and terror helps everyone follow the rules that seem to keep the bad things at bay.
Running through the scared-villagers narrative is another story, and it's one of love. Joaquin Phoenix plays Lucius, a quiet youth in the village; Bryce Dallas Howard is Ivy, the blind woman who loves him. And he loves her back, hurrah!
When tragedy leaves Lucius in need of medicine the village cannot provide, Ivy determines to walk to a nearby town for help -- and she'll have to go through the woods and risk being eaten by one of those big ol' boll weevils. And all that.
The Village is a film about fear and isolation, which invites political interpretation. That's an invitation we'll decline. Let's just say the movie seems to be about community, and in an alarming way. It isn't scary or gripping.
It's just disappointing. That's really saying something when you consider that the cast includes Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, Judy Greer and Cherry Jones.
The only huge surprise in The Village is Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of filmmaker Ron Howard, who makes her feature debut with a truly riveting performance.
(This film is rated 14-A)
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