Wherein the Hero Digs His Own Grave

Movie Review: Lady in the Water

Cleveland Heep, the superintendent of a Philadelphia apartment complex, comes across a mysterious woman who calls herself Story and is revealed to be some sort of supernatural water-nymph. She has come to this place with a specific purpose, but is harried by attacks of monstrous wolf-like creatures. As Story's presence ignites something not only within Cleveland but the rest of the complex's residents, he resolves to help Story fulfill her mission and return safely home. Stars Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, M. Night Shyamalan, and Jeffrey Wright. Directed and written by Shyamalan and released in 2006.

Lady in the Water came at a pivotal time in Shyamalan's career. He had backed himself into a very specific corner and because he was now so widely known as the guy who puts giant plot twists in his movies, it got to a point where everyone saw them coming a mile away. Lady in the Water was to be his first movie without a twist, of course it turned out to have one anyway, and Shyamalan claimed it was the movie which was closest to him emotionally. I think he may have meant: the movie in which he most liberally indulged himself. He plays, in the movie he wrote, a writer whose work is world-changing, but incendiary enough to result ultimately in his assassination. There is also, in something of a preemptive strike, an asshole film critic who gets everything wrong and is the movie's sole fatality. The central myth is overcomplicated, overexplained, and relies too heavily on straight-up exposition. Paul Giamatti is well cast and performs admirably with the limited resources the script allows, but Bryce Dallas Howard doesn't really sell her role, and while some of the kooky residents are fun, the characterizations are shallow and come across as silly at times we're meant to take them seriously. It is well-shot and the creatures are cool, but are too little too late. The lesson: it's alright to fantasize about being an artistic revolutionary and martyr - I mean, who doesn't? - but to expect an audience to enjoy you indulging those fantasies is asking too much.