The Sixth Sense

viewed August 28, 1999 at Century Park 12

Yes, I was taken out at the end -- it's a doozy.  What happens after that twist leaves much to be desired; it seems too pat and open-ended.  But the movie as a whole is still very-well done, as even I from my left-corner-of-a-packed-house seat was still riveted by this unique story.

The movie is surprisingly morose for a mainstream hit; given the general grayness from scene to scene, one has to credit the actors and the script for sustaining interest and intensity.   The kid, Haley Joel Osmet, is genuinely talented; he often reminded me of Edward Norton with that leer of pained condescension (see Primal Fear, another film with a monster twist).  He is the centerpiece of the film, and my chief assignment when I view this a second time is to see if his character was really  in on the secret from the beginning (logically speaking, he must have been).  

Another real find is Bruce Willis, playing a very understated version of himself and coming out the better for it.  In a manner similar to the hollowly wise-cracking Robin Williams of Good Will Hunting, he generates as much warmth as this frigid movie can stand with his deadpan jokes interspersed with playful frankness.  Best of all, he actually listens -- a lot -- to the kid, and allows their rapport to grow evenly between them.  

I found a lot of recent Jonathan Demme in this movie -- the sterility of some of Silence of the Lambs and especially Philadelphia, with the gloom that perpetuated the latter film's ostensible message of humanity (perhaps its no coincidence that Demme's chief cinematographer, Tak Fujimoto, shot this movie).  At least this film starts dour and works its way out, cheap denouement notwithstanding.  Some scenes, such as Osmet shouting down his teacher with knowledge acquired from the dead, and the cupboards that move, are pure dramatic pieces that don't fit logically to the story (the kid seems so scared of the dead, why would he stick around long enough to pick up any information from them?  Are the ghosts moving the cupboards?) Willis shooting at the window also causes a loop in logic after we see the ending.  Nonetheless, the movie has much to offer and heralds M. Night Shyamalan as a major player in Hollywood entertainment (though he could go the way of Bryan Singer).

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