 M.
Night Shyamalan delivers another supernatural meets real
world story in Signs. Or does he? The writer/director of
The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable has made his mark
on Hollywood creating films that combine spiritual elements with basic
mystery/thriller stories, but in this case the two ideas just don’t
mix well. Signs is the story of Graham Hess (Mel
Gibson), a farmer and former reverend who lost his faith
when his wife was killed in an accident. He lives with his children
(Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin)
and former minor league baseball player brother (Joaquin Phoenix),
leading pretty ordinary lives until the day a crop circle shows up
in Graham’s field. In his search for who or what made the circle
and his confrontation with them, Graham’s courage and faith
are tested and his life changed forever. Gibson
does a good job of playing the spiritually-conflicted Graham; his
pain over the loss of his wife and faith is poignant, and he is
believable as an every-man confronting his demons. The children
are very good as well. But what doesn’t work is the combination
of the spiritual and thriller/supernatural story lines. Although
the story is suspenseful and keeps you guessing for most of the
film, when all is finally resolved, it is a let-down. And on further
pondering of the film afterward, the story just seemed all the more
contrived. Overall, these Signs just didn’t lead
to a destination worthy of the work involved in the journey.
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