Lady in the Water

I finally got around to seeing Lady in the Water tonight, and much like with The Village, I don’t know what everbody’s bitching about. I liked the movie uneqivocally.

It’s a bit of a departure for Shyamalan, but then, it’s a bit of a departure from most films in general, as all his films are. You may or may not like his movies, but you have to admit that nobody else is making anything like ‘em, and nobody but Shyamalan could do it.

Anyway, you have to bear in mind that this movie is essentially a fairy tale. Swap out the apartment building for a medieval village and nobody would bat an eye. The movie works much better if you bear this in mind. You have to be willing to let go and embrace your sense of childlike innocence, or else you’re probably going to hate it.

But I took it as I think it was intended, and really enjoyed myself. It has heart without being sentimental, and it has a positive message that, while a cynic can argue with it, only the most pessimistic would bother.

I’m a sucker for movies that take a very mundane setting and introduce something wonderous into it (something at which Shyamalan excels), so I guess I’m biased, but I left the movie feeling a little better about the world (at least for a few minutes), and that’s about the best endorsement I can offer for any flick.