The Sixth Sense
By Ross Anthony
Excellent. Go see it. "The Sixth Sense" bills itself as a psychological thriller, but it's really more of a supernatural adventure picture that will "raise those prickly hairs on the back of your neck."
Bruce Willis plays a child psychologist trying to "heal" a paranoid boy (Osment). The boy's affliction: he's always scared. And he has good reason to be.
Though this synopsis is quite brief, more said would mean fewer surprises. And this is one film sure to surprise you. Rather, let's turn our attention to the "horror" factor. Make no mistake, this is not a mindless slasher film. And though it has its moments of gore -- they're usually brief. Instead, it's the relationship between the psychologist and the boy that aptly carries the picture -- that and the subjects of the child's "sixth sense."
Bruce, the boy and his screen mother perform flawlessly. Writer M. Night Shyamalan has given us characters for whom we care deeply and then wrapped them up in the most dire of circumstance. But that's not all, he's directed this picture with meticulous care.
It's a film that will resonate within you.
Starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Tony Collette and Olivia Williams. Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Produced by Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Barry Mendel at Hollywood/Spyglass. Rated PG-13.
Grade..........................A+
-- Copyright © 1999 Ross Anthony, currently based in Los Angeles, has scripted and shot documentaries, music videos, and shorts in 35 countries across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia. For more reviews visit: http://RossAnthony.com
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews