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The Sixth Sense
Directed By Night Shyamalan
The Sixth Sense is a surprisingly well-crafted and smart little psychological film that sucks you in and manipulates you for your own pleasure.
Why surprisingly? Because the cast is lead by Bruce Willis who hasn't exactly accustomed us to that kind of movie.It's to his credit to have accepted such a role, far from his usual action hero and big $ salary, because by putting his name at the top of the poster, he gave this movie a chance that wouldn't have occured with, let's say, Eric Roberts in the title role.
The Sixth Sense was written and directed by Night Shyamalan, a young director who, for his first shot, didn't miss. Bruce Willis plays a child psychologist whose mission is to help a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who sees dead people, and at the same time help himself by finding redemption for an old unsuccessful case with a boy with the same problems. The first smart move of the screenplay is to play a certain realism. Instead of going for big scary ghosts and special effects, the movie takes on one of the supposed realistic and accepted interpretations of ghosts and therefore emphasizes the audience's feeling that everything is possible and real. Then, the movie establishes its own slow-path that builds up a narrative that parsimoniously delivers clues. The use of dark lights and faded colors emphasizes this slow path and aims at making you focus on the psychology instead of arty shots or special effects. Also, the characters are interesting and their importance goes beyond their appearance. They are all connected without knowing it and their intricacy is what will solve the puzzle. If Willis's character is reminiscent of Pacino's in Heat (the more fulfilling his mission, the more his personal life suffers) the film is clever enough not to follow the same obvious path and message. Finally Shyamalan's script is smart enough to manipulate you without using any tricks in the storytelling. Instead, the movie plays with logic and attentive observation. The fact tricks aren't employed is what makes the manipulation so enjoyable.
The cast is another asset. Haley Joel Osment has a real talent and intelligence, and since he carries The Sixth Sense on his shoulders, there's no room for bad acting, over-acting or non-acting. Fortunately, Haley Joel Osment is no Jake Lloyd and has an air of a young Edward Norton that already clues you in that he's not some chimpanzee. He is always precise in his acting and performs like an adult instead of trying to be cute. The film's main character has the right tone down too. In this role, Bruce Willis's acting is surprisingly sober and more clever than you may think. He knows perfectly how to stand back and at the same time create a presence that is not too erased. He walks on eggshells, what is new to his repertoire, and this testifies to a real passion for this movie that he is willing to destroy his stature as abig gun man. Toni Collette's character is also played very well. Far from her early funny character like Muriel from Muriel's Wedding or the druggy girlfriend in Velvet Goldmine, she interprets a single mother who assumes her role with accuracy. Common to these three actors is the believable emotion they bring. BR>
Of course, the movie is not flawless. The scene with Osment pulling out the sword as Arthur in the Sword & The Stone play is too obvious in its symbolism. In addition, the scene with the little poisoned girl doesn't look realistic (compared to the rest of the movie storytelling style), is too easy, and is used too quickly cure ills of the little boy. It ends the movie brusquely, contradictory to its slow path. Finally, the cheesy ending is a sort of shock compared to the tone of the movie and emphasizes the feeling that it's a slapdash work. These problems, however, look rather like a young director's mistakes than a demagogic commercial attempt.
Smarter than the usual and moving, The Sixth Sense is a sense you shouldn't miss.
Fred Thom
 Signs
Unbreakable
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The Sixth Sense review
