Signs

I'm honestly shocked this has a 6.8 on IMDb.

A bunch of people used to a 'twist'?

A bunch of people who think all alien movies must contain explosions?

A combination of both?

Great casting.

Great acting.

Great writing.

Lots of tension.

One of the most serious explorations of faith in cinema.

Just an all around really good movie.

Joaquin Phoenix steals the show.

I will say, it does have a very morose vibe - being the back drop is everyone being sad because the mom had died. I wonder if that is what turned people off. The subject of aliens plays second fiddle to it.

Yeah, if I had to put my finger on it, I'd bet that's it.

This is definitely one of the best movies that I have seen in years. The dialogue is smart, the camera work is perfect and the information and background setting are divulged to the audience at precisely the right pace and exactly the right moment. Mel Gibson turns in his best performance that I can remember and so does Pheonix, who is extremely funny and plays a very real and well defined character. The movie is coincidently the scariest movie that I can remember seeing in theatres, and the scary moments are guaranteed to haunt you for a few days afterwards at least, but the movie is so much better than that and its so much more than a movie about aliens. As everyone knows from reviews, "Signs" means more than just crop signs, but "signs" are never portrayed in a cheesy way, but in a realistic and honest sense, and capturing such a deep topic without going overboard or making a mockery of it seems very hard these days, so that makes the film all the more impressive. Basically, its just awesome, it really is. Go see it.

In a documentary that accompanies the film on DVD, M. Night Shyamalan admits that SIGNS was greatly influenced by such films as NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and Hitchcock's THE BIRDS--an admission that will come as no surprise to any one who has seen SIGNS in the wake of those films. Although very different, all three have one thing in common: they ultimately focus on a small group of people fighting off an unnatural entity that attempts to invade their very ordinary homes.

The story is an unusual mix of meditative religious and classic sci-fi elements blended together by Shyamalan's remarkable sense of visual style. Mel Gibson is a minister who has lost his faith in the wake of his wife's tragic accidental death and who now rejects the concept of unseen powers entirely--so he is nonplussed when his children discover a crop circle in his own cornfield. He remains skeptical even as television news coverage reports alien crafts hovering over major cities. But his denial is exploded when he and his family have a close encounter of the extremely nasty kind.

The small cast is extremely, extremely good. I generally dislike Mel Gibson as an actor, but he has grown a bit since his macho-bravado BRAVEHEART days, and while he might seem an unlikely choice for the part of a failed minister he carries it extremely well. Joaquin Phoenix is perfectly cast as Gibson's younger brother, and the children--Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin--are flawless.

What isn't flawless is the story. The blend of religious and sci-fi motifs is an interesting idea, but director Shyamalan (who also wrote the script) doesn't quite manage to hold them in balance, and ultimately winds up beating you over the head with the film's religious elements while giving the sci-fi elements the short end of the stick. I did appreciate the fact that the film builds suspense more by what it does not show than what it does, and I have no qualm with that--it's a welcome choice after such special effects overkill as INDEPENDENCE DAY and the like--but several of his plot devices smack of stereotype, and the film's conclusion is such a deus ex machina that it is not to be believed. There is indeed a great deal to admire about the film, but when all is said and done it somehow lacks sincerity and falls just short of the mark. Entertaining nonetheless.

Gary F. Taylor, aka GFT, Amazon Reviewer

Signs is written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin and Cherry Jones. Music is scored by James Newton Howard and cinematography by Tak Fujimoto.

Still reeling from the death of his wife, former man of the cloth Graham Hess (Gibson) lives and works on his farm with his two young children and younger brother. When the family awakes one morning to find a huge crop circle in their plantation, it is asked if it's a prank or the sign of alien contact?

I don't know if M. Night Shyamalan discouraged the marketing of Signs? Where evidence very much pointed to it being an alien invasion movie for all the family to enjoy? But Signs is anything but a family alien invasion movie. The trailers were deliberately vague, there was a mystery element hanging over the picture and with the Shyamalan CV already boasting the phenomenally successful The Sixth Sense and the divisive, but very moody, Unbreakable, hopes were pitched somewhere between excited and intrigued. Gibson on board, and Phoenix as well, good selling points without a doubt. However, Signs is a grower, a film that pays better dividends on further viewings once armed with the knowledge of what sort of theme drives it on. Yet it still frustrates greatly and you can see why it proved so divisive.

Shyamalan's movie is primarily about faith, the loss of such, the alien visitors are merely a component of this theme, they act as the catalyst that takes Graham to the pinnacle of his voyage of discovery. The meditations on faith and grief are subtle initially but they drive the picture forward, but then Manoj Shyamalan slips into sermonising and his picture strives for a huge ending to justify it, which unfortunately never arrives, this after having been tickled and baited by the mystery of what the aliens want, friend or foe? Questions leap out such as will the Hess family come through this latest crisis in one piece? And will this "invasion" marry up with the director's thematics that he is so keen for us to open our hearts to? The answers to these questions are mixed, and take further viewings to digest fully. That is if you can forgive the downright idiocy of the alien visitors in the first place?

The last third has killed the film for many, which is a shame given the excellence on offer in the first hour. Shyamalan's camera is wonderfully fluid, his mise en scène is ace and he garners wonderfully low-key performances from his cast. While as much as his critics hate to acknowledge it, the director has a brilliant knack for building suspense, the ability to draw the viewer into his world, playing on our basic inquisitive nature. That he hasn't delivered on his promise, both here with the finale to the film and later in his overall directing career (though this writer personally loves The Village), is hard to argue against, but there is major talent there buried in his egocentric/confused make up. Elsewhere, James Newton Howard's score is channelling Herrmann and Fujimoto's photography is sublime, this really is a beautiful movie to look at.

Definitely not a family film, and not really an alien invasion film, with it showcasing both the good and bad aspects of its director. Yet still compelling and pretty enough to warrant a second viewing me thinks. 7/10

My thoughts on M. Night Shyamalan's SIGNS

Rated: PG (Canada), PG-13 (U.S.)

Starring: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Kulkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones and M Night Shayamalan

"Daddy there's a monster beside my bed, can I have a glass of water?"

When Graham (Mel Gibson) and Merill Hess (Joaquin Phoenix) discover 50 ft circle and square shapes carved in their crops, the two try and find out the truth behind what is going on. However, what Graham learns soon is that the battle he will soon be facing is not that of extra terrestrial beings but that within his own self.

In facing a universal theme of life on other planets, Shyamalan's handling is different from your ordinary type of supernatural movie. This is because the underlying theme of this movie is not aliens, but in fact, it is faith. Faith in something larger, faith of miracles, faith that nothing in this life is coincidental and everything happens for a reason. The theme of this movie is not survival of outer forces rather than survival of internal and seemingly more powerful than what is even happening outside.

There is not a single movie that is out there which scares the viewer on a level of things they are NOT seeing rather than what they do see. It does not deserve to be classified in any category because this film is in a league of its own. The base of supernatural and extra terrestrial beings in this case forms the base for human self exploration and finding who they truly are.

PERFORMANCES

In all sequences, Shyamalan concentrates on character development and even from the first scene, we seemingly have a look into the world of a man, who is emotionally wounded, and yet silent and powerful. Shyamalan has gone with Mel Gibson to play the title role, which some fans of M. Night would have rather gone with Bruce Willis who has played the quiter type role in Sixth Sense and even starred in Shyamalan's "Unbreakable". However, from the very first frame, you can see that Gibson becomes the role and lives through the role. In terms of his performance, the transformation he goes through the entire frame of the movie really is a true testament to the powerful skill that this actor embodies. In many scenes, his eyes do the talking, and it takes a powerful director to really capitalize on what Gibson does in this type of role.

Joaquin Phoenix, playing Graham's brother Merill, is a powerful support in the movie. His character gains a lot of sympathy. Even as he is trying to find his place in the world, his support for his family is unwavering, making this role one of the most sympathetic and yet powerful roles the talented actor has ever faced.

Once again, Shyamalan gets unbelievably powerful performances from his child artistes in this movie. Rory Culkin, playing Graham's son in the movie, as well as Abigial Breslin, give such emotion filled performances that it really surprises us that Shyamalan can extract performances of this calibre from them.

Even Cherry Jones, who plays the local police officer, puts in a realistic and heartfelt performance as the local police officer in Graham's community.

Finally, Shyamalan himself makes a mark in the film. His role is an essential one and yet does not require many scenes. Shyamalan pulls them off with full ease and power.

DIRECTION/SCREENPLAY

If you try and compare "Signs" to any previous movies you may be able to find some ground from this movie in Shyamalan's first movie, "The Sixth Sense". However, in terms of comparisons, this is where they end. Shyamalan knows how to create and move in terms of environment, which is very important for all his movies. Shyamalan's direction is powerful and really gets under the skin of the characters.

Being a thriller, Shyamalan has used an older technique, where he uses comedy to offset a particular mood, even in the gravest of scenes. Shyamalan pulls this off extremely well, even as the screenplay pulls into frightening moments. It takes a brilliant filmmaker to do something like this even when the mood of the scene is totally contrasting to that of what the audience is experiencing.

Its something refreshing to see a brand new director like Shyamalan using the rules of filmmaking that have been forgotten by many of the newer filmmakers these days into making something so powerful and so refreshingly different for the summer. While many new filmmakers base their movies on subjects that really don't take any risks, Shyamalan has made a seemingly new genre, one of self exploration and discovery while in the face of fear or adversity. There is no other film like this one, as it takes two genres and really powers itself into making a seemingly hard hitting combination.

Even the title of the film has a meaning, as the signs are everywhere. There are subtle and hidden messages everywhere, from the scene where Merill is in the Army office and the Recruiter is speaking, or the flashback sequences which Mel Gibson has of a particular incident in his life.

OVERALL EFFECT

This film is unlike any other film to have ever come out in the genre of supernatural thriller or drama. Its something that lets you leave the cinema thinking truly that in this life there are no coincidences and things happen for a reason. As Gibson said in the film, there are two kinds of people. There are those who believe that everything happens for a reason and that we are not alone; and there are those who believe that we live in metaphysical solitude. There are people with faith and without it. He now has to figure out which group he belongs to, and so he does in the chilling climax.

The film is one of the most powerful pieces of cinema I have witnessed and simply put is a much watch.

Rating: 10 out of 10