Sixth Sense, The (1999)

reviewed by
Michael Elliott


THE SIXTH SENSE
*** out of **** stars
=====================

DIRECTED BY: M. Night Shyamalan STARRING: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Donnie Wahlberg WRITTEN BY: M. Night Shyamalan RATED: PG-13 for intense thematic material and violent images. SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: Genesis 2:16-17, 3:4, Ecclesiastes 9:5-6,10, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18


It has happened again. A movie that is well scripted, well acted, and well directed. It is involving, suspenseful... It even has an unexpected twist at the end that packs a punch like a blow to the solar plexus. But in order to accept its premise one must also accept a spiritual lie.

THE SIXTH SENSE is that movie. Starring Bruce Willis (ARMAGEDDON) as a child psychologist and Haley Joel Osment (FORREST GUMP) as a troubled youngster, THE SIXTH SENSE is more spooky than scary, though it does contain disturbing images designed to startle.

Eight-year-old Cole Sear (Osment) sees dead people. Not just in dreams. And not just as lifeless bodies. He sees them walking around like regular people. And he sees them all the time.

Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Willis) is trying to help him. He recognizes in Cole many of the same attributes as one of his earlier patients whom Crowe failed, resulting in that patient shooting Crowe before turning the gun on himself. If Crowe could manage to find a way to help Cole, he believes he just might be able to put his own demons to rest.

But first he needs to gain Cole's trust. The boy is so frightened by what he sees, he has closed himself off emotionally, being unwilling to tell anyone... not Crowe, not even his own mother (Toni Collette, CLOCKWATCHERS)... about his "secrets." Crowe begins to spend more and more time with him, even as his own marriage starts to dissolve around him, his wife Anna (Olivia Williams, RUSHMORE) becoming cold and distant because of his neglect of her and his preoccupation with the boy.

Bruce Willis underplays his role, allowing the excellent script to do most of the work of building character development. Crowe moves from treating a troubled boy who won't communicate, to treating a troubled boy who is having hallucinations, to wondering if perhaps there isn't some truth behind what the boy sees. Mr. Willis does a serviceable job, letting the focus remain on the story instead of on his familiar action hero screen persona.

Eleven-year-old Haley Joel Osment manages to impress us with his performance. He demonstrates an amazing amount of self-composure as well as an ability to play nuances in a complex character as if he were a seasoned pro. It is fine work for one of such a tender age. Keep your eye on this young man.

The supporting cast is also quite effective. Toni Collette, as the confused, frightened, and frustrated mother who can't understand what is happening to her child; Olivia Williams, as Crowe's once loving wife who is shutting down emotionally due to the lack of attention from her husband; and Donnie Wahlberg (RANSOM) as Crowe's ex-patient, now grown, who illustrates his doctor's failure to help him in the most vivid terms imaginable.

Twenty-eight year old M. Night Shyamalan (WIDE AWAKE) directed his own script, maintaining a proper tension throughout the film and crafting the storytelling so expertly that the film's full impact is not reached until its final moments, when a surprising revelation forces a reevaluation of all that preceded it. It is a rare movie which manages to pull that off and Mr. Shyamalan, as the one responsible, is certainly to be commended.

In giving THE SIXTH SENSE a favorable "three star" review for its craftsmanship and artistic merit, I must also point out that, spiritually speaking, the film is highly misleading. There is no scriptural foundation upon which to base a belief in ghosts or the "living dead." The concept of death being a doorway to another plane of existence is a devilish lie that has been around as long as man himself. The first lie recorded in the Bible was devised by the serpent who assured Eve, "Thou shall not surely die," a direct contradiction of God's admonition. That same lie has been perpetuated ad infinitum throughout the ages.

Scriptures do speak of a time when the dead shall rise but that wonderful demonstration of victory over death will not commence until after the second coming of Christ... an event which has not yet occurred. Therefore, the dead remain in a state of oblivion, having no consciousness, until that long-awaited time when the final trump shall sound.

And then, you'll need six senses to register all the joy and rejoicing that will resound throughout the heavens.

Michael Elliott
August 1999
http://www.christiancritic.com

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