A film that is essentially unethical to review, The Sixth Sense is the best time that I'd had at a movie theater in ages. After watching it again this evening preparatory to this review and with the perspective of Shymalan's new film Unbreakable fresh in my memory, I was surprised to discover that a second viewing is as rewarding an experience as the first - and even more surprised to discover that it's for entirely different reasons.
the low down
Dr. Crowe (Bruce Willis) is an esteemed pediatric psychologist that is given the task of counseling tiny, nervous, disturbed Cole (Haley Joel Osment). Cole's mother, played exquisitely by Kiwi, Toni Collette (Muriel's Wedding) - is divorced, works two jobs, and misses her mother terribly.
That's important, for although most know that The Sixth Sense is a film about ghosts and "seeing dead people," what is often lost in the indisputably fair, goose-pimply "you got me" surprise ending, is that The Sixth Sense is a beautifully written and filmed drama about the terror of childhood, the importance of strong parental figures, and the fear of not being as good a person as you should be.
If you are one of the three people that have yet to see this film, fear not, I will respect the brilliant cinematic sensibilities of The Sixth Sense and keep its cards close to my vest.
cinema
M. Night Shymalan (Unbreakable) makes his big-budget directorial debut with a film that is unbelievably polished. It reminded me visually of a Kubrick, but if this is Kubrick, it is Kubrick with a strong ear for dialogue and an undeniable humanism at its heart. Note echoes of the master visualist in long tracking shots, metered caesuras, and patience in the establishment of place and atmosphere.
Although rougher around the edges than Unbreakable, the cinematography and pacing of The Sixth Sense is several times better than it should be given Shymalan's relative inexperience in the full-length format.
performance
Bruce Willis continues to impress with his ability to pluck a 12 Monkeys or Pulp Fiction out of the cess of Mercury Rising, Die Hard 4, Breakfast of Champions, Story of Us. His Dr. Crowe is empathetic, soft-spoken, and bright - a remarkable turn from a truly gifted character actor so long as that character isn't a smirking, wise-cracking action muscle sack.
Most impressive is the genuine rapport Willis establishes with young Haley Joel Osment (Pay it Forward). It is a compelling and believable match and their dialogue scenes, forming the bulk and the heart of The Sixth Sense, are remarkably engrossing.
Osment will probably never again be better. He is creepily precocious and fits the role of a young child that can apparently see ghosts to a tortured, haunted, terrified "t." Completely invested in his performance, note how he reacts to others and interacts with events in his environment. Osment has a gift of being able to convince that the words that he speaks and are spoken by others, are words that he's never heard before.
It is a skill that actors thrice his age have yet to master.
Toni Collette is simply magnificent though her performance is, sadly, the first and most often forgotten in discussions of this film. More's the pity for Collette creates a role that sticks in my mind as one of the most realistic, vital, proud, and vulnerable human fictions of recent memory. It is extremely telling that a performance of this quality is so easily overlooked in light of a pair of lead performances from Willis and an eight-year-old boy.
surprises and second time throughs
The main brilliance of The Sixth Sense, however, lies in its utter faithfulness to its own internal logic and "rules." One time through and you're floored by the surprise revelation (if you claim that you solved it beforehand - you're most likely lying). Second time through and The Sixth Sense gains in nuance and complexity as a result of knowing its surprise. Consider for a moment how special a film needs to be in internal cohesion to have the knowledge of the surprise act as not only no detriment, but edification to repeated viewings of the film.
Hints are scattered throughout the text of The Sixth Sense - for as much as a first viewing is a tense, puzzling, fun cinematic journey - the second viewing is a process of marveling at the tightness of the film's script and construction. Very simply, The Sixth Sense plays fair with its audience, doesn't take its audience's intelligence for granted, and, most refreshingly, doesn't think that it's curing cancer (like Spielberg), or exposing social injustice (like Denzel Washington).
conclusions
M. Night Shymalan's The Sixth Sense is a film that is outrageously popular that just happens to deserve its success. It appeals to the student of film for its technical proficiency, to the theater student for its strength of performance, and to the genre fanatic that has waited years for a good ghost story to breeze its way back on the big screen.
There is no nudity, a minimum of violence, and a minimum of profanity - The Sixth Sense earns all of its payoffs with a surplus of wit. an extremely steady hand behind the camera, and a trio of performances that are above reproach. If the film stutters at a point or two with a couple of child actors that are not Haley Joel Osment (who really should have been Anakin Skywalker), all is forgiven when considering the masterful manipulation of the rest of the entertainment.
It's fun, sometimes frightening, sometimes heart-rending, always brilliant - it is more than the sum of its parts, and much more than a surprise ending.
In the end, The Sixth Sense is a couple of hours that make going to the movies fun again. A serious ghost story about a kid that sees phantoms, the mother that loves him, and the doctor that's trying to help.
While it's worth one look, to be sure - let me assure you that it's actually well worth two.
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