Lady in the Water

[wednes]

H and I watched Lady in the Water by legendary director M Night Shyamalan, who I love. He gave himself his largest role yet in this wonderfully compelling film taken from a fairy tale he wrote for his daughters.

Critics and fans hated this movie. That's mainly why we hadn't seen it until now. We just heard it was terrible and didn't bother. It has a 24% at Rotten Tomatoes as we speak. I honestly don't understand why that is.


Bryce Dallas Howard was wonderful to watch, as usual. It's a much different character than The Village, more mystical and dare I say, victimized. I don't know why Miss Howard isn't a much bigger star.
Is there a bad movie starring Paul Giamatti? If there is, this is the first I've heard of it. He is everything you want him to be here: lovable, pitiable, brave, and determined. As his character unfolds and we learn that he is rescuing Story because he was unable to come to terms with the murder of his family; we cry with him, root for him, and cheer when he finally wins.
Bob Balaban, Cindy Cheung, and Tovah Feldshuh round out a really fun cast that declare shenanegans on the terrible monsters trying to get Story before the big Eagle can take her home. Frankly, they aren't very good at it, but it's suspenseful as hell to watch everyone trying their best and coming up short.
This is a nice, family style story told in a way that is compelling to grown-ups. I was duly impressed by this movie, and I think everyone who hated it should get over the fact that it doesn't have your precious twist. People really ought to stop punishing Shyamalan because he doesn't live up to expectations set for him by total strangers. Dammit, neither would I. Honestly, I'd like to know why people disliked it so much...then I can tell them why they're wrong. ;-]
So Night, make another movie already. I promise next time I'll pay to see it.

Comments

[sudrin.livejournal.com]

As long as you approach it from the perspective of the "Bedtime Story" aspect it was trying to be it was really good. As a "Tries to exist in our reality" type movie like Unbreakable or Signs I thought it was a bit of a disappointment. That's not to say I didn't like it, just that I enjoy movies that DO try and peacefully co-exist in our universe. If I didn't know that M. Night told this story to his own kids I would have found his extensive acting in the film a bit of an annoyance but since its HIS Bedtime Story, who better to be the "Hero". As for Bryce Dallas Howard. MY Bedtime story is the one where she becomes my wife. ;)

[wednes.livejournal.com]

LOL Yeah, it does deviate from real life as we know it. But Cindy Cheung's character makes the point that if you want to beleive, you usually can.