Lady in the Wah-Wah
Well...we saw Lady in the Water today. I had been anxiously anticipating M. Night Shyamalan's latest cinematic offering for several weeks. If you plan to see it in the near future, better not read on...there will be so-called spoilers.
First, let me say that I am an M. Night fan, as is my daughter Jenifer. She and her husband Roth went to see it this past Saturday (opening weekend) in Seattle. Unfortunately, the theatre where it was showing stopped the movie two thirds of the way through, cleared everyone out (offering passes for future visits), and told them to go home! Evidently, there was some sort of technical or electrical problem that prevented them from continuing the showing. They attempted to locate another theatre showing Lady in the Water that night without success (it was sold out). The next day, they went to see another movie, planning to sneak into the last 1/3 of Lady after the first movie was over. But, paranoia and conscience prevailed. She couldn't get herself to committ larceny...even for a long-anticipated movie. Besides, she has told me since that she was so disappointed in the first two thirds, she wasn't that interested in seeing the ending. Wow! We went to see it anyway.
Back to the swimming pool fairy tale. In a nutshell, apparently Lady in the Water is based on a children's fairy tale set in modern-day "reality". A bedtime story that M. Night has told his children...or something along those lines. It is also supposedly an often-told story in many cultures, one of which is Chinese...from whence one of the movie's characters explains to the main character.
That main character, Cleveland Heep, is one of the highlights of the film. More accurately, the actor who plays Heep is one of the highlights of the film. For me, an M. Night Shyamalan film starring Paul Giamatti is must-see movie material. I have been a big fan of Giamatti for many years. I guess it's because I can closely relate to some of his movie roles. Often playing quirky, depressed, no self esteem roles, ie, Miles Raymond in Sideways, Kenny 'Pig Vomit' Rushton in Private Parts, Harvey Pekar in American Splendor, and even the fidgety orangutan slave trader Limbo in Planet of the Apes...I simply enjoy seeing his movies. In Lady in the Water, I feel that Paul Giamatti was over-cast! He is much too much of a great actor to have starred in this childish "thriller". But, he does play another troubled, depressed (and in this one, stuttering) individual.
Yes, it is a thriller...at times. But most of the time, it is a slow-moving, children's boogeyman movie that isn't really very scary. Even in that genre, some of the situations and parts of the storyline are just not believable! I know that sounds like a bit of a conumdrum or something (a supernatural thriller that has unbelievable parts), but it's true. Heep goes around explaining this developing story to a bunch of weirdo residents of a Philadelphia apartment complex (he is the super). Part of his explaination involves convincing these people that they are integral characters in the long-told fairy tale that is about to come true. A fairy tale that pertains to a race of people living in the water (the Blue World) that have been there for thousands of years.
You see, all of this goobly gop is explained in the opening credits! At the start of the film, there is a voice over various stick figure cartoon like images, all depicting the relationship between the above world people and the water world people (presumebly over eons of time). The water world people get pissed off because us above world folk continue to kill each other and plunder mother earth. So they pretty much give up on us...and stay out of sight...until now. Evidently an age old profecy must be fulfilled, ie, send one of their water nymphs (the mother nymph no less, although she herself is not aware of her stature) upstairs and warn us. What is she there to warn us about?...sorry, I totally missed that! I didn't even dose off once during the film...and the whole purpose for this above water visit is a mystery to me. Hence, the title Lady in the Water. More accurately, the Lady from the Water as she really isn't in the water much during the film. In fact, when Cleveland sees something in the water (swimming pool) the first time, he does something my parents always told us not to do around the pool: he runs! He runs around the pool, slips on the wet deck, hits his head, and falls in the water...unconscious. He wakes up in his own bed with the Lady in the Water (played by Bryce Dallas Howard...Opie's daughter) sitting next to the bed and wearing (only) one of his shirts. Yes...she speaks perfect English. Yes...she is strangely etheral. And, yes...she is forbidden from telling us poor above world slobs exactly why she is there. And so the guessing game insues. Heep (Giamatti) must unravel the mystery as to why she is there. That's about it.
Beyond all the why-is-she-here mystery, there is not much more. Yes...there is a monster...a big bad wolf-like thing with twigs for fur that followed her up...and, of course, wants to eat her (or blow her house down...wait that was the pig story). There is a giant, magical eagle coming soon to take her away. Funny...at the end when the eagle takes her away, it flies up, up, and away...not back into the pool, the water, and the mysterious submarine cave under the pool drain from whence she appeared. Anyway...there are also three mean and nasty monkey figures (BTW...they go by one name, kind of like the three Daryls from Newhart I guess)...and they live in the trees and are supposed to punish the wolf thing for coming to our world. Of course, they do appear out of the trees, dispatch the wolf, and allow the magical eagle to carry Opie's daughter back to...somewhere. CG eagle flies around the apartment complex once. Shot of Heep (from underwater) watching his nymph fly away with the eagle. Fade to black...and credits. That's it.
The main impression I got from this movie was "what is the point"? There was a lot of deep conversation about what each of these apartment people have done (and will do) to impact history and the world. M. Night's character (yes, the writer/director has quite a large part in this) finishes his book that will someday influence a boy to grow up and become president...blah, blah, blah...as an example. Oh, I forgot, the Lady from the Water can tell your future! Phew...it was all a bit disjointed and a somewhat clumsy telling of a children's fairy tale...one I've never heard, but a fairy tale anyway.
I'm sorry this was so long-winded and confusing...kind of like the movie. At this point, my laptop is ready to die. Time for me to close.
I just may have to watch again (on video) someday. Maybe she did go back in the water...and I blinked or something. BTW...the "teenagers" sitting behind us commented when the movie ended, "That was lame!" And an old guy with an oxygen tank walked out about 20 minutes before the end. The worse part? The popcorn wasn't as good as usual. I even got a stomach ache from it later in the afternoon. Too bad...I had high hopes for this flick...and the popcorn.
First, let me say that I am an M. Night fan, as is my daughter Jenifer. She and her husband Roth went to see it this past Saturday (opening weekend) in Seattle. Unfortunately, the theatre where it was showing stopped the movie two thirds of the way through, cleared everyone out (offering passes for future visits), and told them to go home! Evidently, there was some sort of technical or electrical problem that prevented them from continuing the showing. They attempted to locate another theatre showing Lady in the Water that night without success (it was sold out). The next day, they went to see another movie, planning to sneak into the last 1/3 of Lady after the first movie was over. But, paranoia and conscience prevailed. She couldn't get herself to committ larceny...even for a long-anticipated movie. Besides, she has told me since that she was so disappointed in the first two thirds, she wasn't that interested in seeing the ending. Wow! We went to see it anyway.
Back to the swimming pool fairy tale. In a nutshell, apparently Lady in the Water is based on a children's fairy tale set in modern-day "reality". A bedtime story that M. Night has told his children...or something along those lines. It is also supposedly an often-told story in many cultures, one of which is Chinese...from whence one of the movie's characters explains to the main character.
That main character, Cleveland Heep, is one of the highlights of the film. More accurately, the actor who plays Heep is one of the highlights of the film. For me, an M. Night Shyamalan film starring Paul Giamatti is must-see movie material. I have been a big fan of Giamatti for many years. I guess it's because I can closely relate to some of his movie roles. Often playing quirky, depressed, no self esteem roles, ie, Miles Raymond in Sideways, Kenny 'Pig Vomit' Rushton in Private Parts, Harvey Pekar in American Splendor, and even the fidgety orangutan slave trader Limbo in Planet of the Apes...I simply enjoy seeing his movies. In Lady in the Water, I feel that Paul Giamatti was over-cast! He is much too much of a great actor to have starred in this childish "thriller". But, he does play another troubled, depressed (and in this one, stuttering) individual.
Yes, it is a thriller...at times. But most of the time, it is a slow-moving, children's boogeyman movie that isn't really very scary. Even in that genre, some of the situations and parts of the storyline are just not believable! I know that sounds like a bit of a conumdrum or something (a supernatural thriller that has unbelievable parts), but it's true. Heep goes around explaining this developing story to a bunch of weirdo residents of a Philadelphia apartment complex (he is the super). Part of his explaination involves convincing these people that they are integral characters in the long-told fairy tale that is about to come true. A fairy tale that pertains to a race of people living in the water (the Blue World) that have been there for thousands of years.
You see, all of this goobly gop is explained in the opening credits! At the start of the film, there is a voice over various stick figure cartoon like images, all depicting the relationship between the above world people and the water world people (presumebly over eons of time). The water world people get pissed off because us above world folk continue to kill each other and plunder mother earth. So they pretty much give up on us...and stay out of sight...until now. Evidently an age old profecy must be fulfilled, ie, send one of their water nymphs (the mother nymph no less, although she herself is not aware of her stature) upstairs and warn us. What is she there to warn us about?...sorry, I totally missed that! I didn't even dose off once during the film...and the whole purpose for this above water visit is a mystery to me. Hence, the title Lady in the Water. More accurately, the Lady from the Water as she really isn't in the water much during the film. In fact, when Cleveland sees something in the water (swimming pool) the first time, he does something my parents always told us not to do around the pool: he runs! He runs around the pool, slips on the wet deck, hits his head, and falls in the water...unconscious. He wakes up in his own bed with the Lady in the Water (played by Bryce Dallas Howard...Opie's daughter) sitting next to the bed and wearing (only) one of his shirts. Yes...she speaks perfect English. Yes...she is strangely etheral. And, yes...she is forbidden from telling us poor above world slobs exactly why she is there. And so the guessing game insues. Heep (Giamatti) must unravel the mystery as to why she is there. That's about it.
Beyond all the why-is-she-here mystery, there is not much more. Yes...there is a monster...a big bad wolf-like thing with twigs for fur that followed her up...and, of course, wants to eat her (or blow her house down...wait that was the pig story). There is a giant, magical eagle coming soon to take her away. Funny...at the end when the eagle takes her away, it flies up, up, and away...not back into the pool, the water, and the mysterious submarine cave under the pool drain from whence she appeared. Anyway...there are also three mean and nasty monkey figures (BTW...they go by one name, kind of like the three Daryls from Newhart I guess)...and they live in the trees and are supposed to punish the wolf thing for coming to our world. Of course, they do appear out of the trees, dispatch the wolf, and allow the magical eagle to carry Opie's daughter back to...somewhere. CG eagle flies around the apartment complex once. Shot of Heep (from underwater) watching his nymph fly away with the eagle. Fade to black...and credits. That's it.
The main impression I got from this movie was "what is the point"? There was a lot of deep conversation about what each of these apartment people have done (and will do) to impact history and the world. M. Night's character (yes, the writer/director has quite a large part in this) finishes his book that will someday influence a boy to grow up and become president...blah, blah, blah...as an example. Oh, I forgot, the Lady from the Water can tell your future! Phew...it was all a bit disjointed and a somewhat clumsy telling of a children's fairy tale...one I've never heard, but a fairy tale anyway.
I'm sorry this was so long-winded and confusing...kind of like the movie. At this point, my laptop is ready to die. Time for me to close.
I just may have to watch again (on video) someday. Maybe she did go back in the water...and I blinked or something. BTW...the "teenagers" sitting behind us commented when the movie ended, "That was lame!" And an old guy with an oxygen tank walked out about 20 minutes before the end. The worse part? The popcorn wasn't as good as usual. I even got a stomach ache from it later in the afternoon. Too bad...I had high hopes for this flick...and the popcorn.
posted by James | 5:52 PM
1 Comments:
Nice review. That's about how I felt, too, and I didn't even see the end because of the power outage at the theater. I'm sorry to say, but I am officially out of the M.Night fan club. Fool me once (Sixth Sense), shame on you. Fool me four more times (Unbreakable, Signs, The Village, Lady in the Water), shame on me.
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