Unbreakable:
Unwatchable.
Well, that's going too far.
Bruce Willis is like Harrison Ford in that, when both actors want to do "serious acting," they turn in painfully wooden and flat and depressive performances. Bruce Willis cracks a smile only ONCE in the whole film, near the end, and when he does you almost jump out of your seat. "Wow! A smile! For once, a different facial expression!"
The director, Shymalan, overestimates his audience's patience on numerous occasions. I bow to none in my hatred of MTV style cuisinart editing, but here Shymalan goes to the opposite extreme. There's a long conversation between Willis & Wife in a restaurant; Shymalan photographs them from across the room, in dim light, fifty feet away, in a single visually-dismal shot that seems to go on forever. For god's sake, give me something to look at. This is a motion picture, emphasis on both motion and picture. It's not a radio play.
And a lot of shots are utterly dark. When darkness is contrasted with light, it's pretty cool. When darkness is contrasted with more darkness, it's just difficult to fucking see. Again: This is not supposed to be a radio play.
The story: Well, as you know, it's about a man who might actually be a superhero. I like the basic idea -- I like superheros, and I find it interesting to try a "real" movie about superheroes -- and I have to admit that I enjoyed the basic premise.
In a cartoon superhero movie, it's always the best part of the movie when the superhero discovers his powers; unfortunately, such scenes only last for two or three minutes. Here, it lasts for more than an hour, and that's not necessarily bad: Again, that's the best part of every superhero story, so why not extend it as much as possible?
Still, the film is ultimately pretty boring and pointless. And, not to give away a SPOILER, but the director tacks on a fairly gratuitous "surprise ending." No doubt he felt compelled to do this after the wild success of the Sixth Sense. But here, the "surprise ending" feels tacked on. It seems to violate the tenor of the movie that went before it. There are no "clues" to it; it just comes, all at once. You either accept it or you don't: You probably won't.
I would suggest renting this film. I think ultimately it's a failure and a misfire, but I have to concede it is at least an interesting and slightly-daring failure.
Or maybe I just like superheroes. Your mileage may vary.
