M. Night Shyamalan: Lady in the Water
First off, I love M. Night Shyamalan movies. I love his storytelling, cinematography, his great sense of timing, and his knack for putting things together when you least expect it and not typically how you expected it; his movies are fun to watch and can be quite moving.
The Lady in the Water was good. The marketing of the movie clearly show it as more scary and terrifying than it is — it wasn’t scary at all. It was a decent story, but definitely not scary.
IMDb provides a quick preview of the movie:
Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.
The woman-from-the-pool / sea-nymph part of the story was not nearly as interesting as the characters that M. Night developed so well. The apartment tenants that M. Night developed became wonderfully interesting, rich, and brought a dimension to the movie that was humorous and kept the audience interested.
One of the tenants that was developed well was played by Freddy Rodgriquez, an apartment tenant obsessed with working out only one side of his body (his right side). He plays an important role in helping the sea nymph return home.
Another of the tenants, who is played by June Kyoko Lu, acts as the storyteller, interpreted by his daughter since June speaks chinese. She plays the classic Asian woman who seems cranky all the time and speaks with a raised, high-pitched voice. The really wierd part is that she looks and acts just like mother. Strange.
I’d classify this movie as almost a fantasy or supernatural genre, but definitely not a thriller.
All in all, it was a decent movie. The cinematography was classic M. Night; the story was developed well; the character development was superb. The marketing is lousy and deceptive — it’s not scary.
I recommend the movie, but don’t expect it to be jump-out-of-your-seat like his other movies. It’s interesting and funny. I recommend it, but I don’t think it’s his best work.
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I loves me some M. Night. Tough to outdue Unbreakable in my eyes, however.