Shyamalan's Glass Ceiling? (Movie only) (Unbreakable (DVD))

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Unbreakable (DVD)
Date:	18/09/06 (233 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Brilliant Leads, a great story

Disadvantages: Slow at times

M Night Shyamalan is a director with an impressive track record. So it was something of a surprise that his, allegedly self-absorbed production, “Lady in the Water” tanked at the box office recently. Maybe the writing’s been on the wall for a while. “The Village” was another flawed foray into the world of the supernatural whilst “Signs” had been a decidedly uneven production mixing the UFO genre into Shyamalan’s distinctively suspenseful melting pot of sci-fi suggestion and borderline, Hitchcockian suspense. Perhaps the Indian director with a penchant for the unusual may never top the 1999 and 2000 movies “The Sixth Sense” and “Unbreakable” respectively and it’s the latter that I’d like to reflect on for now.

David Dunne (Bruce Willis) is a Philadelphia security guard who works at the local football stadium. Once a budding football star himself, Dunne was the victim of a car crash in his youth that put an end to his potential sporting career but brought him together with his wife (Robin Wright Penn). As the sole survivor of a recent train crash, the mysterious Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) contacts him; a rare comic-book collector who sells comic book artwork to sophisticated clients. Price is fascinated with Dunne’s miraculous escape from the train wreck and starts to pry into the security guard’s background. Dunne’s apparent resistance to any physical harm is in sharp contrast to his own vulnerability to breaking bones; something he has done repeatedly since birth. Price tells Dunne that he may be invincible and should let go and find the special powers latent within him. At first, Dunne is sceptical but as time goes on, more and more evidence appears to indicate that Price’s suggestion that Dunne may be a superhero could be right after all. As the security guard embarks on a journey of self-discovery, his relationship with the wheelchair bound, comic book aficionado becomes ever more complicated until the final, incredible finale uncovers how the two are inextricably linked.

Having scored a runaway hit in “The Sixth Sense” with Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment, Shyamalan once again teams up with Willis as his lead starring alongside the irrepressible Samuel L Jackson as the bitter paraplegic with his own, sinister agenda. I have to say that I’ve been a fan of Bruce Willis ever since I saw him in the syndicated gumshoe series “Moonlighting”. From those early days of playing opposite the gorgeous but slightly maniacal looking Cybil Shepherd, Willis has gone from strength to strength. He has actually played a broad cross-section of acting roles although many typecast him as the hero in a dirty vest from movies like the Die Hard trilogy. Having starred in some of my very favourite science fiction movies including “The Fifth Element” and Gilliam’s “Twelve Monkeys”, Willis has an impressive track record of decent sci-fi to reminisce over along with singing “Under the Boardwalk” and co-owning “Planet Hollywood”. In “Unbreakable”, he plays the confused but ultimately heroic, prodigal father with a deftness that has characterised his later roles and made him one of the biggest box office draws of the last decade. The on screen chemistry with his son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) and his wife is neatly drawn and the obvious problems that their marriage has encountered is underscored by Willis’ melancholy often portrayed by a bowed head or a nonchalant response when addressed by his wife.

What makes the movie work is the wonderful interplay between Willis and Jackson. Samuel L Jackson has become an institution and roles like this, it seems, were made for his distinctive voice and overpowering screen presence. From his latest tongue-in-cheek “Snakes on a Plane” to the Tarrantino vehicle “Pulp Fiction”, Jackson is the master of cool; a man so laid back he could float in a swimming pool without a lilo. The script certainly helps and the multi-talented Shyamalan once again writes and directs with some great dialogue aimed front and centre at Jackson’s very high acting abilities. Not only does he manage to gel with Willis but lines like “Do you see any Teletubbies in here? Do you see a slender plastic tag clipped to my shirt with my name printed on it? Do you see a little Asian child with a blank expression on his face sitting outside on a mechanical helicopter that shakes when you put quarters in it? No? Well, that's what you see at a toy store. And you must think you're in a toy store, because you're here shopping for an infant named Jeb.” As a businessman tries to buy some of his artwork for his infant son only to be repelled in a blast of indignance from the incomparably stuffy, Jackson underlining his ability to deliver a line with gusto. As he goes on to say later, “Now that we know who you are... I know who I am - I'm not a mistake! It all makes sense, in the comics you know who the arch villain is going to be? He's the exact opposite of the hero! And most time's they're friends like you, and me. I should've known way back when you know why David? Because of the kids! They called me Mr. Glass.” Iconic.

Shyamalan’s camera work is as inventive as ever: As Price falls down some stairs pursuing a member of the crowd that Dunne has highlighted as having a gun (he's sensed it rather than actually knows it), the camera tumbles and falls and the audience stumbles and trips too only to lie upside down at the bottom just in time to see the fleeing criminal jump over a turnstile causing his jacket to billow and the gun unveiled. Better still is the sequence where Dunne finally realises his potential in a bleak house on the edge of town. As Dunne turns, he finds himself pushed over a balcony and into a swimming pool. As Dunne’s terror rises with the pool cover quickly relinquishing under his weight, plunging him into the water, the feeling of inadequacy and terror is brought home by the swirling shots from under the surface with Dunne squirming but helpless unless someone is willing to come to his aid.

“Unbreakable” takes our fascination with comic book, super heroes and turns the genre into an adult story of suspense and serendipity. Jackson and Willis are on top form and the story is tight with a thrilling ending. Taught, suspenseful with no lack of soul, this is one of Shyamalan’s finest hours. “Unbreakable” is rated 12 and has a run time of 106 minutes. There are some scenes of violence and the movie will appeal to older children and adults. I’ve seen the movie several times now and enjoy it more and more each time I see it. If you like a great story, well directed with superb acting then this will be for you.

Highly recommended with 5 stars.

Thanks for the read

Mara

DVD available from Shop.Com for £7.99

Summary: Overview of movie