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Lady in the Water film review
LADY IN THE WATER
Running time: 110 mins
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright, Cindy Cheung, Sarita Choudhury
Director M. Night Shyamalan has made a good movie. This isn't it, though. In fact, ever since he announced his own distinctive brand of supernatural thriller with The Sixth Sense, he has failed consistently to emulate his debut success. Neither the subsequent Unbreakable, Signs nor The Village came close to fulfilling the expectations and hyperbole generated his breakout smash. Lady In The Water is yet further proof that Shyamalan is a one-hit-wonder whose reputation and inflated sense of self is way out of proportion to his ability.
Disney's decision to turn down the opportunity to make Lady In The Water has been fully vindicated while the director's response to the snub, which was to contribute to a scathing book about his dealing with the company, smacks of sour grapes and a bruised ego. A nonsensical and pretentious exercise in self-indulgence, Lady In The Water plays out like a warped fairy tale. To be caught up in its fantasy requires an extraordinary leap of faith. Shyamalan obviously assumes this is a trait exhibited by almost everyone given the fact that all the characters in Lady In The Water possess an unquestioning acceptance of the strange events they find themselves caught up in.
Apparently inspired by a bedtime story Shyamalan told his young daughters, Lady In The Water is a childish tale of a beautiful sea nymph who finds herself trapped on earth and requires the help of humans to return to her Blue World. That she emerges from the swimming pool of an apartment complex in Philadelphia seems to have more to do with expediency than symbolism given it's the director's home. None of the residents seem remotely surprised by her presence, or that they should be called upon to help her get back home. That is something, I guess, only a skeptic would be concerned with.
Paul Giamatti does everything within his considerable powers to give the film someone to identify with. His portrayal of the apartments' superintendent, the stuttering Cleveland Heep, lends it a humanity it desperately needs. His concern to help the alabaster-skinned, wavy-haired nymph Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) is heartfelt. The complex's colorful residents, which include an ebullient Korean Young-Soon Choi (Cindy Cheung), a critic (Bob Balaban) and crossword fan (Jeffrey Wright), all play their part in helping Story on her journey. Shyamalan's delusory self-image extends to his acting, which is indulged here in his portrayal of one the tenants. While some may maintain he exhibits ability as a writer and director, few would say the same of his acting. The trouble is, he's one of them.
Shyamalan is good at imbuing his films with an ethereal quality, one that suggests a foreboding mysticism. Too often though he has relied upon a startling plot twist to justify the preceding unfulfilled anticipation. Here though, there is no twist, nothing that causes you to forgive the smoke and mirrors he employs to suggest something more profound. That Lady In The Water solicits more laughs than chills, most of which are unintentional, is evidence that the clothes Shyamalan struts around in are rapidly becoming more transparent.
Kevin Murphy
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