Review of The Sixth Sense (1999) by Jeremy K — 19 Feb 2014

Back before M. Night Shyamalan became a cinematic punch line, he was actually viewed as one of Hollywood's best up-and-coming directors. In my opinion, he basically peaked with "The Sixth Sense," less of a horror movie and actually more of a supernatural drama; it's a film about a boy named Cole (Haley Joel Osment) who can see dead people, and a psychologist named Malcolm (Bruce Willis) who tries to help him. Regardless of the films Shyamalan makes now, this is a good, chilling movie.

Malcolm is a well-renowned child psychologist living in Philadelphia with his loving wife Anna (Olivia Williams). But everything changes when a young, disturbed man with a gun shows up in their house; Malcolm recognizes him as a former patient named Vincent Grey (Donnie Wahlberg) who suffered from hallucinations; Vincent accuses Malcolm of failing him, and then shoots him before turning the gun on himself. The next fall, Malcolm is set to treat Cole, who seems to suffer from similar hallucinations. Meanwhile, Anna hardly speaks to him anymore.

What I like about this film is the character interactions: the ones between Malcolm and Cole, and Cole and his mother Lynn (Toni Collette) are really well-crafted and they carry a lot of emotion. I feel like people seem to forget that Bruce Willis can take on dramatic roles; he isn't just an action movie guy. He does a fine job here; he's intelligent, caring and passionate. Some of Haley Joel Osment's expressions are a little off, but I still think he's believable as Cole; he and Willis mesh pretty well together.

Like I said, this movie is more of a supernatural drama; it's a story about a lonely boy coming to terms with a dark secret, and a man coming to terms with the recent events in his life. The only horror elements come in the form of what Cole sees, as we get moments later on in the movie where he sees horrific images of dead people "walking around like regular people," with gruesome death marks on them. These scenes have some very good suspense; they aren't necessarily meant to scare, more to put us in the mindset of this character. It is genuinely creepy at times. The story flows along quite while, as Malcolm and Cole both ultimately help each other. I won't reveal the twist ending, by the way; chances are you probably already know what it is. But I will say it's set up very well, not too obvious since I feel the story is as investing as it is.

However, the movie isn't always interesting. There are some really standard scenes where Cole gets picked on by his fellow students that just go nowhere, and yeah, there are some conversations that go on a little too long until they've more than outstayed their welcome. But it's a blessing compared to later Shyamalan films; honestly, don't most filmmakers learn from their mistakes and get better over time instead of horribly regress with every movie?

But I just feel like he had a handle on the story he wanted to tell; there are some clever directorial decisions with "The Sixth Sense," and I can take the events in it seriously. But not long after this film, Shyamalan kept trying so many of these same tricks, and they just didn't work the same way for various reasons. "Unbreakable" was decent as well as original, but in my opinion, his descent really began with "Signs." Trust me; I'll save that movie for another time.

In spite of the man's recent run of disastrous films (Don't get me started on "The Last Airbender"), I can look back at this one and still call it a great film, because of the acting, the pacing, the dialogue and the effects. He knew how to portray a sense of isolation and loss within these characters, and although he may seem a bit lost as a filmmaker now, I hope he can get back that inspiration that helped his talent shine through like it did here.