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Signs 2002 |
Review by Jonathan Cornwell |
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
PG-13, 108 min. (some frightening moments) |
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Starring: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones
Producers: M. Night Shyamalan, Frank Marshall, Sam Mercer
Screenplay: M. Night Shyamalan
Cinematography: Tak Fujimoto
Distributor: Touchstone Pictures
Released: 8.02.02 (Wide) |
Rating:
 (out of ) |
M. Night Shyamalan's third major feature, Signs, is somewhat of a mixture of his two previous efforts - the startling
The Sixth Sense and the character-driven Unbreakable. Signs is all build-up. The tension level is driven to extreme levels,
especially in the far superior first half of the film, while we learn to understand what makes each character tick. There's
some unbridled, ham-fisted sermonizing and a pure hokey ending to endure, but it's not enough to tear down an otherwise
solid wall of filmmaking. Here, Shyamalan has proven that he is quickly becoming a master at the quiet, introspective
scenes that dominate his pictures. It's a good thing he understands how to craft these images, otherwise his films would
bore you to death. Signs indulges itself with many signs, both physical and spiritual, and even throws around the idea
of the faithful and the faithless. But in the end, what you remember is the claustrophobic feeling that grips you until
Shyamalan tips his hand.
Mel Gibson stars as Father Graham Hess, a father of two young children, Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigain Breslin),
living on a Pennsylvania farm. He's lost his faith in God after the tragic passing of his wife, and his bitterness threatens
to destroy his family. Also on hand is Graham's younger brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), a former minor league
baseball player who has moved home to help promote healing in the family. Suddenly their lives are shaken by crop circles
in their corn field, and they must confront the possibility of aliens stalking them for some unknown reason. Each family
member has varying degrees of belief in the alien possibility, but it's Graham's own quest for coming to terms with his
wife's death that drives his conscience.
Shyamalan uses his best attributes as a director to full effect here - that less is more. Instead of relying on Independence
Day-like overuse of special effects and countless alien battles, he uses quiet, subdued silence to allow real tension to build
in the audience's mind. We can't see what's out there, only hints like a foot in the corn field or a stranger standing on their
rooftop. But there's always the uneasy feeling that something is wrong. It doesn't take much to peak an audience's interest
when you employ these clever tactics, and Shyamalan is all-too-eager to indulge himself here.
He also uses the children as the compass of the film's direction. Morgan and Bo's belief that aliens are all around them
only lead to one real question - are they benevolent or militant? The film refuses to answer this question for quite some time,
although the answer to whether the aliens are real is revealed early in the storyline. Although Morgan is confident they are
friendly, Bo is not quite so sure. And, of course, Graham and Merrill are skeptical. Shyamalan answers this question with
another question - are you the type of person who believes in miracles and that everything happens for a reason, or are
you the type of person who believes everything is random and meaningless? It's Graham's own personal identity crisis that
drives this theme home.
Unfortunately, this leads to Signs' greatest weakness. In an effort to make the film more than it is, Shyamalan
shamelessly uses these spiritual questions as the backbone for his convoluted and insulting conclusion. Rather than trust
the audience's intelligence, he crams a ridiculous half-hammed idea about the last moments of Graham's wife's life as
the answer to Graham's personal struggle. It's hard not to laugh when he suddenly finds his faith again.
Despite this glaring problem, Signs suceeds in its original premise to make the audience feel uneasy and create
an air of desperate tension that is not easily relieved. It's well-worth one's time to experience the build-up and countless
questions that arise from such an ordeal. The film is told through the eyes of the children, especially Morgan, who's
innocent yet simple acceptance of the circumstances around him help lead the audience to the answers they crave. Signs
is not on the same level as The Sixth Sense, but it's relatively close to Unbreakable in terms of its serene crafting. Personally,
I would put both of those films ahead of this one, but there's nothing in Signs that detracts from clearly one of the best young
directors in Hollywood today. One of these days Shyamalan's going to make a film devoid of suspense or a twisted conclusion, but
what fun would that be?
© 2002 Jonathan Cornwell
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 | Masterpiece - Film perfection |
 | Excellent - A Must See |
| Good - Highly Recommended |
| Fair - Worth seeing |
| Average - Viewable, but not recommended |
| Below average - View at own risk |
| Poor - Avoid at all costs |
| Very poor - An embarassment to the film industry |
| Zero | Awful - One of the worst films ever made |
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