MPAA Rating: PG-13/Genre: Psychological Thriller/Stars: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Donnie Wahlberg, Glenn Fitzgerald, Mischa Barton, Trevor Morgan, Bruce Norris, Angelica Page, Greg Wood, M. Night Shyamalan, Peter Tambakis, Jeffrey Zubernis/Runtime: 107 minutes
It might stun some of you to learn this, but there are at least a quartet of distinct groups of directors who operate in the land of movie magic. Those groups are as follows: the consistently great directors, the directors with a few great films plus a smattering of good/bad entries to their name, the directors who make solid yet unspectacular movies, and then there are the ones who just can’t seem to catch a break so they run with it by deciding to make slices of cinema more painful than an appendectomy without the anesthesia. Indeed in the first category one can find such names as Spielberg and Nolan, the second category is proud to have Coppola and De Palma as two of its more noteworthy dignitaries, the third category is one which manages to incorporate everyone from Fuqua and Bay all the way to Emmerich, and then there’s the fourth category which I can honestly say has for its leadership such “dignified representatives” as Tommy Wiseau and Uwe Boll (a man whose last name in my opinion should be changed to Boil because of how, much like an actual boil, irritating his films are, but I digress). The reason I bring this up is because I feel like there is a director that needs to be talked about for strong and serious consideration into the second category. That director being none other than the iconic (or sigh inducing dependent on how you feel about the man and/or his body of work) M. Night Shyamalan. A man who, when he is working at his best, has given audiences some gems that will stand the test of time and, when operating at his worst, has….also somehow managed to give audiences the exact same thing. Not because the movies in question are good by any stretch of the imagination, but because the movies are so mind-numbingly and hilariously awful that you cannot believe for the life of you how in the world they both got funding from a studio to say nothing of assembled the undeniably talented individuals in front of the camera on them as well (save for the possibility of them needing some serious money). Yet among this rather distinct film helmer’s catalogue of good movies, bad movies, and 2008’s The Happening or 2010’s The Last Airbender there is one slice of cinema which I think is still (as of this writing) a genuinely great film. That film being the 1999 slice of cinema, and one I happen to be reviewing for you today incidentally, known as The Sixth Sense. A film that might mostly be known for both one of its more iconic lines and its ending, but which still is one heck of a viewing experience even when putting those elements aside. No it’s not a flawless slice of cinema in every way, but with the aid of solid work on both sides of the camera, The Sixth Sense is still (even after 25 years) a gripping, chilling, and surprisingly emotionally potent story that worth embarking on no matter if it’s your 1st or 21st time doing so.
The plot is as follows: Taking us to the locale of Philadelphia (this IS an M. Night Shyamalan film after all), The Sixth Sense gets underway by introducing us to a man by the name of Malcolm Crowe (no relation to either Russell or Cameron). A man who, among other things worth knowing about him, is a prominent individual in the field of child psychology and who has a wonderful relationship with his wife Anna. As our story begins however, we see that Crowe and Anna are on their way home from an event where our hero has just been recognized by his peers for his achievements in their respective field when Anna makes it clear to him that, contrary to what he had thought about their marriage, she doesn’t feel the same way. Rather, she feels that he has always put her and everything else second. As heartbreaking as this is for the good doc, we see that it is soon compounded upon by the arrival of an unexpected visitor. A year later and we witness that while Dr. Crowe’s relationship with his wife has begun to fall apart at the seams, there might be a chance for him to earn some rather unexpected salvation on that front and just in terms of life in general. This is because Crowe has also started working with a new patient in the form of 9-year-old boy named Cole Sears despite reservations about doing so since he reminds the doc of another patient he used to treat and whose treatment didn’t exactly go as well as either doctor or patient might have hoped. In the case of this boy however, I can promise you that a much different outcome is going to be had. You see dear reader: it is not the act of treating Cole that is to be Crowe’s salvation. Rather, and in a strange plus as spoiler-free as I can possibly make it kind of way, Cole IS the salvation which Crowe has long (even if he himself is unaware of it) been searching for all this time. This is because this youngster might look like one who we might see on a street corner waiting to head into school or spending a typical busy Saturday afternoon out shopping with his mom, but there is most assuredly a lot more to him than that. In fact, there is something about Cole that definitely distinguishes him from people not just of his age group, but of any age group really. Suffice it to say therefore that it isn’t long before that something about Cole has decided to take Dr. Crowe, and by extension all of us, by the hand on a little journey of sorts. One that will not only transcend known boundaries, but which hopefully will give Crowe what he needs in order to fix the mistakes he has made in his life. As for what this particular journey reveals however that is something which I will let you discover for yourself…..
Now right off, I think it can most assuredly be said that the work done by the various teams functioning behind the camera on this particular cinematic outing all prove to do an absolutely fantastic job at bringing this film to life on the level that it is ultimately able to attain. Without any question, this starts with the work done in the director’s chair by M. Night Shyamalan and, surprise surprise, I definitely feel like this is easily his crowning achievement (to date) as a director. Indeed not only does Shyamalan bring a fantastic degree of attention to detail to the film thus making every single bit of dialogue and shot extremely important to the grand scheme of things, but he also proves to be extremely skilled at providing this film with both an incredibly effective atmosphere made up of equal parts low-key tension and anxiety as well as a slow yet effective tempo that is able to do a great job of unfurling the story in a manner which ensures that the audience is able to be consistently invested in the characters, their relationships with each other, and the mystery at the heart of the film in equal measure. Incidentally I feel like the last ingredient which I mentioned could also definitely apply to the equally as wonderful work that was done on this slice of cinema’s screenplay which Shyamalan himself also penned. Indeed not only is the script one that proves to be genuinely riveting and suspenseful, but it also does an amazing job of touching on such emotional concepts as guilt, grief, and redemption in such way that it helps this really go a long way toward feel a heck of a lot more substantial than a lot of other so-called “horror thriller” films while also being one that permits the film to feel just as rewarding should you decide to sit down and watch it again. Besides the top-notch work done by Shyamalan at the helm as well as on the written page, this slice of cinema also incorporates some truly stellar work from Tak Fujimoto in the cinematography department. Indeed not only does Fujimoto utilize lighting in a brilliant manner to aid the work at the helm to help conjure up a vibe of anxiety and uncertainty, but he also utilizes a very low-key color range and brilliant utilization of shadow in order to both reinforce the more otherworldly components present in the story while also ensuring you as a moviegoer are left on the edge of your seat right from the word go. Besides those elements however, we see that Fujimoto does a terrific job of ensuring that each of his shots being meaningful to the narrative in some way while also utilizing both fixed and handheld camera work to provide a welcome degree of both reality and closeness to the story. Lastly, I feel like this section would be woefully incomplete if I didn’t talk about the work done by James Newton Howard on the film’s musical score. Indeed not only does Howard’s score succeed in reinforcing the story being told without overwhelming it completely, but it also does a remarkable job of providing the audience with moments of spine-tingling unease and genuinely potent pathos that help it stay consistent with whatever is going on in the film at the time. Suffice it to say that when you also take into account on-point and Oscar-nominated work from the editing department as headed by Andrew Mondshein, it’s clear that not only is this most assuredly an incredibly solid slice of cinema, but also that the work done by the groups behind the camera is most assuredly a big reason for why it works and has subsequently continued to work as well as it has even after all of this time.
Alongside the truly solid work that is done by the various teams behind the camera, this slice of cinema is also one that is aided immensely courtesy of a collection of impeccable performances in front of the camera by an extremely well-chosen cast of talent who are all fantastic in their respective roles. Without any doubt whatsoever in my mind, this starts with the work done by screen icon Bruce Willis in the lead role and this is easily one of the 7 best performances of the man’s career. Indeed in the role of Malcolm Crowe, we see that Willis does an exemplary job at giving us someone who might be more than a tad bit of a success in his professional life yet who has paid for that success through both a rather strained to put it delicately relationship with his wife as well as being sieged by guilt due to feeling like he failed a former patient of his at some point prior to the start of our story. Through his interactions with the character of Cole however, we see that slowly but surely the film does a wonderful job of giving Malcolm the chance to begin not only forgiving himself for where he might have gone wrong to say nothing of restore his confidence that he can make a positive difference in someone’s life again, but also try to tentatively restore his relationship with his wife as well. Indeed this is a truly phenomenal performance and the fact that it didn’t even net Willis an Oscar nod is truly one puzzler that I don’t ever think I will be able to solve. As terrific as Willis is here however, he is matched beat for beat if not surpassed by Haley Joel Osment who is downright incredible as Cole Sear. Indeed as Cole, we see that Osment gives us a young boy who, when we first meet him, is understandably afraid by certain things about himself that I shan’t spoil here. As Cole really starts to open up to Dr. Crowe however, we see that Osment is able to do an incredibly skilled job at transitioning the character from that point of initial fear into someone who is able to comprehend and accept these things about himself while also providing hope and peace to others through them as well. Suffice it to say that it is easily not only the most iconic performance given by Osment (besides his vocal turn as Sora in Kingdom Hearts), but also without question one of the finest performances given by a young person in cinema as well. Last, but by no means least this section would be definitely incomplete if I didn’t talk about the beautiful performance given here by Toni Collette (Knives Out, Little Miss Sunshine). Indeed as Cole’s mom Lynn, we see that Collette does an outstanding job at giving us a woman who might not fully understand her son to say nothing of what’s going on with him, but who nevertheless tries to comprehend let alone accept that her son….can do the things that he is saying whilst still loving and being there for him unconditionally all the same. Suffice it to say that when you also incorporate into this distinct cinematic brew solid efforts from such individuals as Olivia Williams (1998’s Rushmore and 2014’s Sabotage) who is heartbreakingly good as Malcolm’s loving yet slightly exasperated wife Anna, Donnie Wahlberg (Danny Reagan on Blue Bloods), Glenn Fitzgerald (1997’s The Ice Storm), Trevor Morgan (Jurassic Park III, 2000’s The Patriot), Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper on The O.C.), and Angelica Page (despite being credited as Angelica Torn at the time) among others it’s clear that this slice of cinema might have a few miniscule issues here and there, but thankfully the powerful work done by this immensely talented group of individuals is most assuredly not one of them by any stretch of the imagination.
All in all and at the end of the day is The Sixth Sense a flawless slice of cinema in every way imaginable and then some? Sadly, and as much as both my younger as well as current selves would love to tell you that, I am afraid that I cannot do so though most assuredly do not take that as an insult to what the creative people working on both sides of the camera have managed to achieve here. With that being said though, is this the worst entry on any of the individuals involved in the making of this film’s distinct creative resumes? Not by a long shot. Trust me when I say that there’s most assuredly some films to be found that would definitely qualify for that rather dubious “honor” a heck of a lot quicker than this one. To be sure and in the name of fairness, I can definitely understand that this is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea as it were. Not just because the pace can be a bit on the slow side especially in the first half of the movie or even the fact that for some this slice of cinema just won’t seem to really be all that scary, but also because there are a significant number of characters here (as richly performed as they all are) which aren’t given as much to work with in terms of material as others. Should you find yourself able to give this film a chance however, I promise that you will find a significant amount to really enjoy and appreciate here. Indeed the work at the helm is spectacular, the script is incredibly well-written, the cinematography is beautiful yet haunting, the score elegantly haunting, and the cast (with particular regard to the performances given by Willis, Osment, Collette, and Williams) are all absolutely stellar despite the aforementioned narrative material inequality at play. Suffice it to say then that if you are looking for a horror film with blood, guts, a psychopathic killer, and a group of dumb teenagers doing dumb things then I’m sorry, but this is not the movie for you. On the other hand, if you are in the mood for one that excels at giving you a genuinely riveting story, a wonderfully uneasy atmosphere, extremely well-written characters, and a surprising yet genuine degree of heart-felt pathos you won’t usually get in a film like this then this is definitely for you. Thus The Sixth Sense might not be the film you are expecting it to be, but trust me when I say that it most assuredly won’t be one that you forget anytime soon either. Make of that what thou will dear reader and Happy Halloween! On a scale of 1-5 I give The Sixth Sense “99” a solid 4 out of 5.
