UNBREAKABLE -----------
David Dunn (Bruce Willis) survives disasters unscathed while Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) has a disease that causes his bones to break at the merest provocation. These two men are opposites in more ways than that in "The Sixth Sense" writer/director M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable."
LAURA:
A little bit "The Sixth Sense," a dash of "Fearless," and some "Batman" cooks up to M. Night Shyamalan's "The Sixth Sense" followup, "Unbreakable." While this outing may not hit the populist nerve of his last, it's more mythological and complex and should become more well regarded after repeated viewings.
David Dunn is returning from a job interview in NY when a pretty girl (Leslie Stefanson, "The General's Daughter") sits next to him. He twists off his wedding ring and begins his play, but ends up driving her away. Then he notices the train is going way too fast. Cut to a young boy (Spencer Treat Clark, "Gladiator") watching TV from upside down on a couch - a disastrous train wreck has just occurred outside of Philadelphia.
A doctor in ER questions David while in the foreground we see blood spread across the midsection of the only other (short-lived) survivor. 131 people have died and David Dunn has not a scratch. He's at a low point that's not just expicable by survivor's guilt, however. His marriage appears to be over - he was planning to move to New York alone if he got that security job.
Things take an odd turn after the memorial service for the victims, when he finds a note on his windshield embossed with 'Limited Edition' and a message inquiring if he's ever been sick. He traces the note to Elijah Price, a comic book art gallery owner with osteogensis imperfecta, a condition that causes his bones to break easily (we've already seen him born with broken arms and legs in a flashback, as well as a child whose mother has to coax him to the playground with gifts of collectible comic books).
Elijah suggests that they're polar opposites and that David is the real life embodiment of the superheroes written about from the time of the Egyptians through modern comics, a real protector of men. Elijah shows up at the local football stadium where David works as a security guard (a protector). David begins an entry frisk to cull out a suspected weapons carrier, who does indeed leave the line. David 'sees bad people,' and Elijah's words, even though David rejects them, are intensifying his talent. His son Joseph so wants to believe them that he pushes dad's workout until he's lifting 350 lbs. Audrey and David write off Elijah as a lunatic, yet begin to heal their marriage. But Elijah continues to push.
Shyamalan has loaded his screenplay with myths (good vs. evil), symbols (watch those color schemes (Mardi Gras colors - purple represents justice, green faith, and gold power), his usual spirtuality and character perspectives (upside down and reflected). There's also another twist ending, that, like his last film, make you want to go back and watch it again to fill in the blanks. He has weightier implications here, particularly regarding Joseph, who is paralled with Elijah in many ways. He even includes some in jokes ('They say this one has a surprise ending,' Elijah's mother tells him, 'They called me Mr. Glass," says the shatterable Elijah).
Bruce Willis again delivers a quiet, restrained performance as Dunn. He's good, if not as interesting as his "Sixth Sense" character, yet not surprisingly, is at his best when playing against his young costar, Clark. Samuel L. Jackson is more intriguing as the positively Dr. Strangelovian Elijah (the hair, the gloves, the wheelchair!). His intensity is mystifying but compelling. Again Shyamalan gets a solid performance out of a three-name child actor, although Clark isn't in Osment's league. Robin Wright Penn is in reactive whisper mode. Charlayne Woodard ("The Crucible") is sympathetic, dynamic and strong as Elijah's mother, aging thirty years through the course of the film.
The film is well shot and editted, deliverying terrific sound (you'll cringe when Elijah falls down subway stairs, breaking bones along the way, or when Shyamalan delivers one of his jolting sound shock moments) by sound designer Richard King. Cinematographer Eduardo Serra ("The Hairdresser's Husband") uses interesting angles and long takes to bring Shyamalan's vision to fruition.
While "Unbreakable" doesn't quite hit one out of the park the way "The Sixth Sense" did, it's clearly the work of a young master that gives its audience something to mull over long after they leave the theater.
B+
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