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July 21, 2006
Thinking of seeing a movie?
If you were thinking about seeing the new flick from M. Night Shyamalan, Lady In The Water, check out this review from Moriarity, who has enjoyed the director's previous flicks.
Key 'graphs:
... [I]it’s all so nonsensical, so completely without even the bare minimum of logic that a great fairy tale should possess, that none of it matters. By halfway in, the worst feeling had taken hold of me, and no matter how much effort I was seeing expended onscreen, the same thought just kept playing over and over for me, louder and louder as the film progressed.
I. Don’t. Care.
Everything seemed overconsidered. Everything felt phony.
And then the review starts getting harsh.
At the Arclight on Monday night, there was a press screening for LADY IN THE WATER, and the mood at the start of the film seemed to be a pretty open-minded one. People applauded a few times as the film settled in and got going, and they laughed in all the right places, oohed and aahed a few times.
When the Scrunt appeared, people jumped and giggled afterwards. The film played... up to a point. And it’s hard to be exactly sure when it happened, but I’ll tell you when I noticed them turn. There’s a moment after Night’s character discovers what his destiny is, where he’s wrestling with the implications of it, and he’s talking about how he still can’t believe he’s the one. “Who am I to tell people these things?” he asks. “I’m no one special.”
And from the back of the theater, clear as a bell, someone grumbled, “Goddamn right about that.” And there was a ripple of laughter from some of the people around him. I didn’t think it was a particularly pithy comment, and I don't endorse ruining other people's experience with a film at all, but the reaction was telling. People laughed. And the more Night talked about how important his work is, the more people seemed to shut down and disconnect. The more other people felt like it was okay for them to talk.
By the time the credits roll (to a cover version of a Bob Dylan song, once again reinforcing how much he wants to be associated with the icons he believes himself the equal of), there was open hissing and booing. A fair amount of it. More than I’ve ever heard at any press screening anywhere. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything like it.
This was the most openly hostile room I've been in for a film since the first test screening of NORTH, where Jerry Seinfeld loudly told Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Jason Alexander, "Nope, not even for you guys," before he walked out. People didn’t just leave the theater on Monday night; they stormed out. I normally don’t discuss the reactions of crowds when I write reviews. I think people frequently project onto the audience.
That’s not the case here, though. Those people turned on Night over the running time of that film, and that’s a genuine problem. All the spin in the world and all the talk about watching like a child and all the pre-release excuses aren’t going to help with the general audience. This film will bore and infuriate many viewers, and the marketing that’s selling this as a horror movie won’t help at all.
This is not a horror movie. It wants to be a family movie. It’s fairly chaste, and there’s nothing really objectionable in it as long as your kid isn’t a stickler for good structure or solid characterization.
I wish I could convey to you just how much this film depressed me. It made me so sad that it’s taken me two days to write about it. This is one of those films that will genuinely bother me when I hear someone try to defend it. I’m not going to try to explain to you why someone else does or doesn’t like something; that is presumptuous, and it always seems like you’re trying to tear someone else’s opinion down to build up your own. If you really love this film, then I guess it’s a good think Night made it. But I think this is a hard film to defend, and I think overall, this is a creative dead end for an artist who makes it hard to like him even when his work is at its best, much less when he’s churning out aggressively condescending material like this.
As always, rather than taking the word of just one guy, check out MetaCritic's take on the film.
Me? I'll take a pass.
Posted by Mike Lief at July 21, 2006 12:42 AM
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Comments
Wow! And I really wanted to see this! Guess i'll wait for it to come out on DVD.. Oy!
Posted by: Shvester at July 21, 2006 08:26 AM
Actually, this movie wasn't bad. It's definitely worth the time and effort of a weekend matinee. The reviews were really funny and enjoyable, though! I think M Night has set himself up for target practice because of his past success and/or his possibly overripe ego.
The movie definitely had some holes in the plot and the monster was frequently not scary. But the whole balance of interesting neighbors in this uber-complex was the best part. Keep all that, rip out the Water nymph and go suburban with stories revolving around the apartment dwellers.
All good acting, a few funny moments, some great photography set-ups ... Again, I think the critics were interested in putting MNS in his place! There are sooo many more exquisitely bad flicks released on a regular basis. Lady just doesn't qualify as a bomb.
Geez, no. I don't have stock in the production company!
Posted by: Vermont Neighbor at August 1, 2006 09:10 PM