Lady in the Water - Urban Fantasy, Shyamalan Style
Written: Nov 05 '09
Product Rating:
Suspense:
Pros: Unique story, good acting, music, style
Cons: Not much
The Bottom Line: This won't be the right cup of tea for some Shyamalan fans, but if you like his style and can handle a bit of urban fantasy, you're good to go.
When people hear M. Night Shyamalan's name, they think scary. They think dead people and bizarre twists. So I think when people saw the trailer for Lady in the Water, they were confused. When they saw it in the theatre, they thought Shyamalan was slipping or lost his marbles or they just didn't get it.
Lady in the Water is not supposed to be a scary movie. It's based on a bedtime story Shyamalan used to tell his children, transformed into a movie in the style that Shyamalan is arguably used to; slow, slightly more character-based, and with a few jolts thrown in. When I saw it, the first thing I thought genre-wise was urban fantasy. Not horror. If the typical Shyamalan horror or thriller is what you're looking for here, you aren't going to get it, so move on.
However, if you're interested in what sort of urban fantasy Shyamalan has come up with, stick to it. You might enjoy yourself. Frankly, I liked this the most out of anything I've seen by him-probably because I prefer fantasy over horror any day.
The Cove is an apartment complex, the place where Cleaveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) works as the superintendent. He's got a little house he lives in there, and his life is sort of...less than grand. Until he meets Story (Bryce Dallas Howard), a strange woman he finds swimming late at night in the pool. He learns from Story that she is to meet someone very special, and must do something for them before she goes home. However, there is something standing in her way-and it has a lot of teeth. Now the girl named Story needs the help of Cleaveland...and a story.
Some people fuss about little happening and how slow the movie is. Mm, true, but this isn't exactly sword-and-sorcery fantasy or edge of your seat horror. And I don't doubt that he probably had to extend the original story in order to get it to fit a few hours worth of film (after all, most bedtime stories aren't that long, right?), adding character development and such. I kind of liked that it was slow, and normally slow drives me nuts. I think the difference is that while it was slow, the plot moved along whereas in other movies, things can be slow and nothing useful at all happens. It gave you time to absorb the characters and sink into the atmosphere.
Each character has a unique aspect to him or her. I loved Paul Giamatti (course, I love him anyway) as Mr. Heep and his struggle to deal with life and now this new, strange person. There's one man who believes he knows how everything goes. Shyamalan himself is in this movie, and more than just a cameo, showing that the man can actually act as well as direct and tell a story. Multitalented, that one. The acting overall is just very good, Giamatti especially.
Some people wonder if there's a message in the movie. I suppose, if you like. How there's a bit of the extraordinary in the ordinary. How you never know who you are supposed to be until you discover it yourself. You can also see how Shyamalan makes sure that even some of the most insignificant details in the movie come around to matter in the end. Sneaky man. Or you can just watch it for a pretty good story and interesting characters; entertainment. Whatever you like.
I think my only qualm about this movie is the ending. And I mean after the climax; the very end end. I thought maybe the characters would interact more, just a little bit, but it just kind of faded away and I thought, "That's it? Aww." Of course, that may also be because of my love for fantasy. I wanted a bit more action at certain parts. I wanted to see certain things. But you're just not going to get those things with Shyamalan at the helm, and it's something you might as well get used to. Speaking of which, the movie has that overcast, slightly blue color quality going on to help enhance the mood, similar to some of his other movies. I actually didn't mind it here too much. It worked, and wasn't present all the time.
Coupled together with a good soundtrack courtesy of Shyamalan's right hand composer, James Newton Howard, it's a solid movie that people can enjoy-provided they like this sort of style and genre.
M. Night Shyamalan THE SIXTH SENSE THE VILLAGE continues his mission to revive the ancient art of storytelling--which he has diagnosed as a dying art-...More at Family Video
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