THE SIXTH SENSE (director/writer: M. Night Shyamalan; cinematographer:Tak Fujimoto; cast: Bruce Willis (Malcolm Crowe), Haley Joel Osment (Cole Sear), Toni Collette (Lynn Sear), Olivia Williams (Anna Crowe), Trevor Morgan (Tommy Tammisimo), Donnie Wahlberg (Vincent Gray), M. Night Shyamalan (Dr. Hill ), 1999)
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
It's kitsch all right; but, nevertheless, fine storytelling by the former NYU film school graduate M. Night Shyamalan (Wide Awake), makes this moody ghost piece palpable. It offers a superb performance from the 8 year old elementary school aged boy lead, Cole Sear, played by the eleven year old Haley Joel Osment. This well-crafted mystery, is a first-rate summer entertainment vehicle, flaws and all--one large (the story if examined carefully, especially leading up to its surprise discovery, would not hold up to careful scrutiny, it's all really Hollywood hokum), one medium (ghosts can't move physical objects around, this is pure Hollywood invention), and one minor (ghosts don't leave marks on one's body, though that was a ploy that added questions about parental abuse to the story, making it fit into a modern problem in society). This last point also gave the director a chance to make a cameo in the film, as the doctor is shown having the mother sent to a social worker because of the nail scratching marks on the boy's arm.
Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a gifted child psychologist in Philadelphia, who helps Cole get it off his chest, the dark secret that makes him think he is a freak of nature, different than the other children, just because he has the ability to see dead people, in other words, ghosts. Crowe is gentle with him, listens well, has a nice professional smile, and devotes his whole sense of being to helping the child out, something that gets the child's trust.
This secret is something he can't even tell his divorced mom, Lynn (Toni Collette), who works at two jobs to keep things going for them and loves him dearly, but who, even as she accepts him for what he is still fears that he is a bit strange. Though, this rare psychic gift, having a sixth sense, enables him to see things clearly about the dead, as they regularly visit him, it also frightens him, as he does not understand what the ghosts want from him, as he tries to resist them and they sometimes leave bruises on his body. This gift offers him little comfort in his daily life, as he is friendless in school and burdened with self-doubts about his sanity, probably quite willing to trade it all in and be "normal." This, afterall, is quite a burden for the lad to have on his small shoulders.
Dr. Malcolm Crowe's life is seemingly blissful- doing a job he loves, making a beneficial contribution to society and to boot, receiving an award by the city of Philadelphia in recognition for his work in helping children; he also has a wife, Anna (Olivia), whom he loves dearly, while she in return also loves him very much and supports his work. But, there is a problem, and that comes when he is tipsy one evening and there is a break-in to his upscale house, as his failing effort with a child patient, Vincent Gray (Donnie Wahlberg), is standing in the bathroom, now an adult, in his underwear, as the doctor is slowly remembering his case. The deranged former patient is telling him that he couldn't listen to him when he treated him, he didn't understand what it meant to be alone, and abruptly shoots him in the stomach, angrily saying, "You failed me," and then turns the gun on himself.
Next fall, we see a crestfallen Dr. Crowe, seemingly recovered from the gunshot, follow Cole into a church and in a concerned way offers to help him, slowly gaining the child's trust through free association games and showing a genuine liking for the child, in a non-judgmental sort of way. This is seen by him, as a chance to help this deeply troubled boy and also gain professional redemption for his past failure.
Willis is both likable and credible as the vulnerable doctor, who develops a warm relationship with Haley, both sharing a sadness about the events in their lives. The mother, Toni Collette, adds to the good rapport felt throughout the film by the three leads but has a minor role in getting through to Haley, mainly because she only wants to hear about good things and Haley's visions are often violent ones.
Haley's fright is convincing because he does not over emote the role but plays it as a child would who knows that adults don't like to hear things that are not understood by them. So he speaks in a low, almost hushed voice of haunting terror, adding punch and gravity to his hallucinations and ghost stories, making his frightful experience seem real.
What helps this story out enormously, is that almost everyone you speak to has some strange tale themselves to tell about their contacts with a dead person. If you don't believe that, take note of the popular psychics, such as a James Van Praagh, and see how many calls they get about relatives communicating with those who are departed. Most psychics would say that the dead choose to communicate with those who are most receptive to them, and that they might just be asking for some help from someone not realizing that they are dead or they are trying to help someone they care about see something that only they can see. I don't think this film added much to our knowledge of the paranormal, but it was an entertaining film, plus it showed how a murder can be solved by having a sixth sense (something that police sometimes find valuable in solving a crime). The story was mildly chilling, showing the boy's visions of the dead people as real, but without the gore that follows many of this genre's usual commercial horror stories... This escapist film allows you to take pleasure in this supernatural hokum; perhaps, even making you feel satisfied by the film's surprise ending, as you will probably not give this film another passing scary thought: accepting it for the Hollywood hokum it is, thinking more about the cleverness of the plot than about whether or not ghosts exists. I didn't find anything deeper than a good story told here, and for that, the filmmaker did an admirable job.
REVIEWED ON 8/20/99 GRADE: B-
Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews"
http://www.sover.net/~ozus
ozus@sover.net
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