The Sixth Sense
Director: M. Night Shyamalan Producer: Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy, Barry Mendel Writer: M. Night Shyamalan Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams
(***1/2) out of (****)
Despite what the ads may lead you to believe, The Sixth Sense is not a horror movie; it's actually a drama--and all the better for it. Make no mistake about it, this film does have some scary moments, and the PG-13 rating is well deserved: While there is no sex, only three or four curse words, and little violent action (two gunshots at the beginning of the movie), some of the pictures we see of the ghosts could haunt viewers for days. So be discerning before you take kids to see this movie. The story focuses on two characters: a child psychologist, Malcom Crowe (Willis), and a nine-year-old boy named Cole (Osment). As the movie opens, Malcom has received an award for excellence from the mayor of Philadelphia. But his private celebration turns bloody when a former client, now a full-grown but still deeply terrorized man, confronts Malcom, accusing him of breaking his promise to cure him of his demons. The man kills himself. Several months pass, but nothing can erase Malcom's memory of that terrifying night. The haunting memory has changed Malcom, and his wife doesn't like who he's become; she doesn't talk to him anymore, and she's started finding pleasure in another man's company. Malcom feels he only has himself to blame--for both the shooting and its effects. He buries himself in his work, finding another haunted boy who resembles his late client not only emotionally but physically as well. The boy's name is Cole. Cole is a social outcast with a dark secret. Despite Malcom's best efforts, he is hard-pressed to convince Cole that he can help him. Malcom even has his own doubts about that. But Cole finally realizes that not only is this man nice, but he really is the only one who can solve his problem. His problem is that he sees ghosts--not apparitions floating around in white sheets, but people walking around with gaping mortal wounds that they don't even realize they have. ("Come on," says a twelve-year-old boy, "I'll show you where my dad keeps his gun." He then turns revealing a hole where the left side of his head used to be.) He sees these people everywhere. Most of them are angry, and they won't leave him alone. Cole's mother loves him, but being a single parent, she is unable to offer little more than moral support. It's up to Malcom to stop the hauntings. The Sixth Sense doesn't really reach a climax; the story just basically moves along steadily to the end. But anyone who might be inclined to complain about that should be appeased by the last scene. It was this final twist that boosted my rating up half a star. Most summer movies are special effects bonanzas with five minutes' worth of story. The Sixth Sense is high-octane drama with an old-school philosophy on horror: less is more. What we do see is graphic, yet somehow subtle. If you wasted your money on The Haunting, you can make it back up here. And you won't be ashamed to tell people you saw it.
A review by Scott Miller. (c) 1999
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