I finally saw this movie, the first of three films watched for my NYE movie marathon. Hey, sometimes the ball dropping and the champagne and the socializing doesn't sit well with me. I'm not one for the tradition of ringing in a new year (particularly when I didn't much care for the last one), so I made the best of it by watching three films I had never seen before. Time well spent, I feel.
Before I start talking about Lady in the Water, I would like to put out a couple of qualifiers. First, I am a fan of M. Night Shyamalan and am proud to admit it. He is one of my favorite directors. I understand him and the way he thinks, which I've gleaned from his style of writing and the subjects he's explored in his films. I appreciate that each and every one of his films is a many-layered, multi-textured study of the human condition and always more than it seems. The Sixth Sense, for example, was as much about redemption and personal forgiveness as it was about a kid who sees dead people. Unbreakable was as much about a man's quest to be comfortable in his own skin as it was about a man who is suddenly invulnerable. Signs was as much about faith and belief as it was about an alien invasion. The Village was as much about loss, coping, and the state of our society as it was about an archaic village haunted by fabricated monsters. While some of Night's flicks are better than others, I like each in their own right. This film was no exception.
My second qualifier is that I was put off seeing this in the theater because the reviews seemed so universally bad. Movie critics panned this movie almost across the board, and some lay people who saw it didn't get it and thought it was stupid. So, even though I was still intrigued by the premise and sympathetic to the filmmaker, I was persuaded not to watch it at $8+ a pop. As a result, my expectations were pretty low going in.
While this is not Night's best film, it actually surpassed my expectations. This fantasy myth was a departure for Night. Sure, it had scary elements, such as fictional beasts called scrunts that reminded me an awful lot of the Gamork from the Neverending Story, but ultimately it was a modern fairy tale. However, as with the films that precede it, Lady in the Water is about so much more a sea nymph called a narf who washes up in a tenement pool. It's about purpose and living life, even if life deals you the worst. It's about taking risks. And it's about belief and faith as subtext.
This movie was flawed. First of all, apparently this film was based on a bedtime story that Night actually tells his children. The originality of the story was a plus, but a minus was the disjointed unfolding of the plot. We had to learn of the narf and her many helpers through this interesting Asian mother and daughter, and we learned it in pieces, awkwardly translated. There were some comic relief moments, but it did not make sense that this mother guarded this fairy tale so closely. It was the weakest plot point.
Paul Giamatti was a gigantic plus (he is such a great actor and did well with this material), but I found it difficult to accept that he would believe so completely in the narf and all of the mythical elements so quickly. I didn't understand how his grief led to glomming onto this fairy tale when no other evidence presented itself.
Night's role in this film, also, expanded. Normally, he makes Hitchcock-like cameos in his film; this time, he had a full role and an important one at that. For narfs only appear to particular humans, to guide them toward their true purpose. Night played a writer whose words would lead to sweeping societal change. It did smack a bit of ego if one were to read too far into it. The plus was that he didn't overact.
While these flaws are evident, I still enjoyed the movie for its spirit of hope and self-forgiveness and faith and common purpose and togetherness and personal triumph. Bryce Dallas Howard is an excellent actress, and this was a good vehicle for her, as was the Village. Bob Balaban had a hilarious supporting turn as a writer. I ultimately understood the story and appreciated its message.
Was it Night's best film? No. I think the critics and filmgoers might have been too harsh about it initially, though. One thing you will always do upon watching a Night film is think.
My rating: I'm giving a rare 7.5. I don't think the film is shaky, but the flaws cannot be ignored, knocking it down a peg from very good. It's somewhere in between; hence, the rating. It passes the test, however. I own all of Night's films and wouldn't mind owning this one and watching it again. The pros far outweigh the cons in my opinion, and, frankly, I like the realistic feel of this fantasy. I almost wish a narf would wash up near me. Almost.