POISON SCOOTER

Lady in the Water

Never have a seen such horrible reviews for a movie by what I would consider a real talent of a filmmaker. After viewing Lady in the Water myself, I can only really suspect that critics are pissed off by two things. One, there is a pivotal film critic character played by Bob Balaban who embodies the worst qualities critics tend to have and he gets a severe come uppance after being revealed for a knowitall who doesn't know it all. This probably hit home for a lot of the reviewers and seeped somewhat into their impressions of the film. The second thing that most likely bothered the press was M. Night's abandonment of his trademark "twist" ending for a more standard, albeit fantastical conclusion. But I don't get it. Okay, so he stabs film critics a little. Big deal. And jeez, can't the guy do something else besides the suprise ending without being stamped a failure?

Some may have taken offense to Night's decision to cast himself in a role as a visionary author who will in the future inspire people to bring great change to the world. Is this egomanical on his part? Maybe. Does it bother me? No. I was able to look past the M. Night bullshit surrounding this film, the break up with Disney, the book coming out that details the process of making this film and reveals Night's anger towards his critics. I decided to take the film at face value, treating it like I would the Lord of the Rings or Narnia. It's a modern day fable, a children's tale about sea nymphs, werewolves and giant eagles. And with the exception of some questionable choices within the movie, I tended to like it more than I hated it.

Paul Giamatti is a very capable actor, and most likely brought more to this role than was on the page. As a tortured widower with a stutter, Giamatti embodies the prototypical M. Night "hero" that has appeared throughout his films. And Giamatti is the back bone of the film as the discoverer of the Lady living in the pool and assists her in saving the world without once questioning the why behind it all. Perhaps this is truly what I loved about the film, the reckless abandon in which the story tackles such a fantasy laden script.

I found the story to be very hopeful, especially while the world toils in such despair with war breaking out everywhere there is sand. Night managed to give us a true fairy tale with some ties to reality, but doesn't let his story ever stray into reality long enough for anyone involved to question what is going on. The way I described it to a friend today was that Night created an apartment complex full of people who so desperately want something unbelievable to be real that they never object to the preposterous nature of what is unfolding before them. And that is precisely why I let myself be drawn into this world and overlooked the pressures on the filmmaker and the reviews trashing it. I wanted to forget about things happening in the world for 2 hours and be taken somewhere else, and on that level Lady in the Water worked just fine.

Is it a great movie? Not by a long shot. But it isn't terrible, and I'm convinced that M. Night Shamaylan will still become that rare filmmaker who puts his heart into what he does and always draws me to the theater no matter what he is doing.

posted by Scooter @ 3:40 PM