Lady in the Water (2006)
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.
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3 films that influenced Lady in the Water
What critics say influenced Lady in the Water
Playing an even less suave character than usual, Paul Giamatti stars as a depressed superintendent who stumbles upon a magical sea nymph (Bryce Dallas Howard) who seems to be the product of a drunken three-way between Ron Howard, Darryl Hannah in Splash, and E.T.
Daryl Hannah's mermaid in "Splash" (coincidentally directed by Howard's father, Ron) is positively earthbound by comparison.
That is, unless Shyamalan has cast himself in a key role (see: “ Lady in the Water ”), in which case it begs to become the main focus.
Combined with the rest of his follow-ups -- 2000's "Unbreakable," 2002's "Signs" and 2004's "The Village" -- Shyamalan's last four movies, all distributed by Disney, have grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, making him one of the most consistently bankable filmmakers in the business.
Once promising young auteur M. Night Shyamalan, after his initial smash sleeper hit "The Sixth Sense," seems to be drowning in the shallowness and pretentiousness of his recent films such as "Unbreakable" and "The Village."
M. Night Shyamalan has ended most of his better movies most notably "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" with surprises or twists.
Even in his weaker films such as "The Village" and "Unbreakable," Shyamalan establishes himself a master of atmosphere.
How could the same guy who gave us such crisply paced, serious-minded and narratively intriguing works as “The Sixth Sense” (which, while overrated, holds up far better on repeat viewings than most films based around a shocking twist ending), “Unbreakable” (his best, most underrated effort and one worth rediscovering) and “Signs” (at least up to the dreadful final reel) also be responsible for this, one of the most convoluted and incompetently told stories to come around in a long time.
…out of Lady in the Water (July 20/06) Though it hardly seems possible, Lady in the Water is surely destined to divide audiences even further than The Village did; with its head-scratcher of a storyline and expectedly deliberate pace, the movie gives filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan's detractors plenty of ammunition to use against him.
I'm here to tell you that this cloying piece of claptrap sets a high-water mark for pomposity, condescension, false profundity and true turgidity -- no small accomplishment for the man whose last two features were the deadly duo "Signs" and "The Village."
M. Night Shyamalan, the man who unleashed "The Sixth Sense," "Signs," and "The Village," likewise spins this offbeat fairytale with cool, calculated assurance.
Combined with the rest of his follow-ups -- 2000's "Unbreakable," 2002's "Signs" and 2004's "The Village" -- Shyamalan's last four movies, all distributed by Disney, have grossed more than $2 billion worldwide, making him one of the most consistently bankable filmmakers in the business.
The story is pretty silly, and the continuing revelations make his lesser works ("Signs," "The Village") seem better.
Using allegories about water nymphs and wolf monsters, filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan ("Signs") delivers an uncomfortable hybrid of bedtime fairy tale and self-absorbed examination of his own ego.