May 16, 2009

The Sixth Sense

Title: The Sixth Sense
Year: 1999
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
Music: James Newton Howard
Distinctions: Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Osment), Best Supporting Actress (Collette) and Best Editing; currently #139 on IMDb's Top 250
Length: 107 minutes
Synopsis: after being shot by a former patient, a child psychologist tries to help a new kid with a similar problem
How I saw it: on video a few times, most recently yesterday (rented from Netflix)
Subjective Rating: 7/10 8/10 (Great).
Objective Rating: 10/10 c. 3.7/4 (Great).

Extremely well-made and constantly engrossing. I give it a 7 instead of an 8 simply because it's depressing. This is how to do a story with a twist ending: make the whole movie so compelling that it doesn't need the twist. The music is cliched, but it also evokes exactly the right emotional response. Too bad Shyamalan didn't have any more movies in him.

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