A good movie

If I remember correctly, I saw this one when it was released back then when I was living in England. Anyway, I thought it was time for a re-watch with Nick, my step-son and, this time again, I thought it was actually pretty good. I mean, if M. Night Shyamalan might be nowadays the laughing-stock of the movie community but, back in those days, he was considered one of the most promising directors. Personally, I wasn’t really impressed by ‘The Sixth sense’ which I consider one of the most overrated movies ever made, but his follow-up was really good, the best movie directed by Shyamalan so far, and as a matter of fact, the only one which I found really satisfying. The point is that way before the whole super-hero overdose, he came up with this really gritty and realistic approach on the genre and I thought it was quite fascinating to behold. Of course, the whole thing was not flawless. Indeed, as usual with Shyamalan, even though the directing was very solid, the writing was kind of weak. I mean, often he would sacrifice plausibility for thriller theatrics. For example, is it really realistic to believe that the main character would become aware of his ability only after a huge train wreck? I mean, you or your family would notice that you are never sick or injured (I mean, when I was a kid, I noticed I never got to the hospital and it remained so until I was 18 years old, and by now, I have been 3 times to a hospital. I mean, my point is that you notice and remember such things). Another point, when the main character notice a weird note on his windshield, shouldn’t he shred it? And don’t get me started with the usual Shyamalan twist... So, it is not perfect but it remains a good flick though, absolutely. I mean, I just loved this ‘super-hero’ who is actually some kind of depressed loser, so much more interesting than your usual though guys, and Bruce Willis delivered a solid performance. In fact, even though Willis was pretty good, Samuel L. Jackson was actually even better. Basically, he gives one of the best performances in his long career portraying a really fascinating character completely lost in his neurotic obsessions. To conclude, in spite of its flaws, it is one of the most interesting and entertaining super-hero flick I have seen and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you have completely lost faith in M. Night Shyamalan.

7/10