Unbreakable

View Date: November 18th, 2000

Cast :

Writer and Director: M. Night Shyamalan 

It’s ironic that this movie starts with a train wreck, and focuses on disasters and the survival therein, because after viewing this movie, I was reminded of my desire to be unbreakable and unaffected by bad movies, and wished that I were.  I felt so drained, and unfulfilled after this film, that I wished my senses could be dulled to the point of not being able to tell that this was the most lethargically paced, wanna-be comic book fantasy in existence today.  Shyamalan needs to realize that you can only hit gold with the same hammer once, and the Sixth Sense, while being a wonderfully chilling, supernatural thriller, cannot be incarnated by simply aging the characters and changing the powers.  This is a dark vision, and wonderful atmosphere, but it is yet another case of all style, and no substance, as the story spins its wheels in the mud before finally getting started and careening out of control in its misguided conclusion.

The makers of the film held back on releasing details of the plot, except for the trailer, to increase the air of mystery, and for fear of ruining the plot.  But it is impossible to ruin something that isn’t really there in the first place.  A lot can be derived from the trailer, and the first few moments of the movie.  Bruce Willis is seemingly a human Superman who cannot be hurt, cannot get sick and seems impenetrable to most dangers.  On the other side, Samuel L Jackson (with a hairdo stolen straight from the Mod Squad) is quite susceptible to just about anything.  The film then becomes about Jackson and Willis, opposite sides of the same spectrum, interacting with each other as one struggles to convince the other of his powers.  Out of respect, I will not tell anymore about the story, suffice to say that if you do venture into see this, I want you to experience the full effect of the Shyamalan’s vision.  I just wonder what his vision was.  In the beginning we are treated to some factoids regarding comic books, and indeed the tale does kind of setup like a modern day fable (or urban legend even), but the key to comics successes are that they keep the reader interested with action, interspersed with a strong story and visuals, until the kick is delivered.  We must care about who they are, before we care about what happens to them, this is where he succeeded in Sixth Sense.  That film had similarly patient pacing, but it was very solid and meticulous character and story development leading and building to a powerful conclusion.  This time, instead of wondering, “Where is this going” in curious anticipation, I was thinking, “When is this going to go somewhere” in frustration.  Unfortunately, it never did, and I left the theater emptier than Carrot Top on Oscar night.  I was emotionally drained, but also mentally unsatisfied.  Shyamalan used his film styles and techniques to create a nice vision, but he fails to give any style of substance to his story.  The angle of the camera during the opening conversation, the desolate look of the neighborhoods, all give this film a nice look, but that’s it.  

The performances are all this story has to go on, and sadly, they are nothing to write too much about here.  Willis continues to show that he does indeed do better work when he plays darker, edgier characters, as he believable as an everyman who stumbles into something then struggles to deal with it.  However this is too much like his Sixth Sense role, save the fact that he wasn’t the one with the powers, but he is the one forced to come to realizations and decisions about his life.  Jackson, on the other hand, has never really had a role like this, and does his best with what he is given.  He is forced to gimp around a lot, and be in pain, but his voice alone controls his moods to a nice controlled level.  The remainder of the performers blend into the darkness, Penn as Willis’s wife, Spencer Treat Clark as his son, all exist, but solely for the purpose of plot progression, a pointless task in this film, since there never is a discernible story to progress.

Ultimately, Unbreakable is a droning, boring tale that generates no kind of energy or momentum, then tacks on an ending which does surprise and come out nowhere, but seemingly exists to shock, rather than progress the story The whole experience is quite unbearable to watch, because Shyamalan sat back and let his visual tricks do the work, while failing to build a strong story around them.  Shyamalan may want to sit down with Kevin Smith, comic aficionado and filmmaker, and discussing the translation of a story from page to screen. Not only do they have to look good, but what the characters say matters as well.  They may only be two-dimensional on paper, but they must have more levels in our mind.  The message that apparently wants to come out is that of finding the powers inside us, and what it takes for us to realize that we all have some special ability.  Well, my special ability is the power to warn people to stay away from this movie, I was not invincible to its draw, but I have learned enough to know that even a little of this film was too much.  Here’s to Shyamalan finding his identity, maybe even following in Darren Aronofsky’s footsteps, realizing that you don’t have to copycat to succeed.  Be original, be a Hollywood hero and make unique entertaining stories to go with your visual mastery.  That’s your mission M, should you choose to accept it. ($ out of $$$$)

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