History Film / LadyInTheWater

* PowerDyesYourHeal: A magic healing turns Story's ginger hair blonde.

* OurMermaidsAreDifferent: Narfs are sea nymphs that exist to "awaken" people... and get carried away by [[GiantFlyer giant eagles]].

* SavingTheWorldWithArt: The protagonist must save a writer [[MartyStu whose work will cause world peace and harmony]]. Said writer is played by, of course, Creator/MNightShyamalan.

* SelfMadeOrphan: The Tartutic are described as being SO evil that they killed their parents as soon as they were born. ([[FridgeLogic One wonders]] [[{{Headscratchers}} how the species survives]], if they're that uncooperative.)

* TakeThatCritics: The critic, whose demise is a thinly-veiled TakeThat against people who don't like Shyamalan's movies. This ''badly'' backfired on Shyamalan, for obvious reasons. Creator/MarkKermode pointed out in his review of the film that it was the critics who were championing his films in the first place.

* TakeThatCritics: The critic, whose demise is a thinly-veiled TakeThat against people who don't like Shyamalan's movies. This ''badly'' backfired on Shyamalan, for obvious reasons.

** RogerEbert noted in his review that the critic is proven to be ''right'', and that Heep misinterpreted everything.

%% Zero context examples are not alolwed on wiki pages. Please add context before uncommenting.

Creator/MNightShyamalan writes and directs this self-proclaimed, grown-up "bedtime story" about an apartment building superintendent named Cleveland (Paul Giamatti) who discovers a magical sea-nymph named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) who's been transported to this world and is living in the building's own swimming pool.

* WrongGenreSavvy: Once the characters catch onto the fact that they're in a fairy tale, they assume they know he roles they should play. They're wrong.

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Much like ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' is a tribute to the MagnificentBastard trope, this movie revels in this one. Literally every early background character becomes crucial to the plot later on. Reggie's role was foreshadowed when he talks about how he's doing his "exercise experiments" because he wants to do something special.]] He's also watching in the background of a lot of crowd scenes...y'know, [[spoiler:like a watchman, or a guardian maybe?]]
* CreatorCameo: Shyamalan does this in all his films. This is the first time he's a major character. But just what his character will do - [[spoiler:namely, inspire a great world leader with his writing]] - ticked a lot of people off [[Main/SmallNameBigEgo for obvious reasons]].

* SelfMadeOrphan: The Tartutic are described as being SO evil that they kill their parents after they're born. ([[FridgeLogic One wonders]] [[{{Headscratchers}} how the species survives]], if they're that uncooperative.)

* WrongGenreSavvy: Once the characters catch onto the catch that they're in a fairy tale, they assume they know he roles they should play. They're wrong.

Creator/MNightShyamalan writes and directs this self-proclaimed, grown-up "bedtime story" about an apartment building superintendent named Cleveland (Paul Giamatti) who discovers a magical sea-nymph named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) who's been transported to this world and is living in the building's own swimming pool. As this bizarre revelation sinks in, Cleveland becomes enraptured by her other-worldly charm. As he shelters her in his apartment, other inhabitants of the building begin falling into place as representations of characters from an Eastern myth in which these mermaids, or "narfs," co-exist unhappily with more beastly and violent characters. In human reality, the forces of darkness that threaten the heroes of a fairy tale prove to be much more terrifying, and the victory of good over evil is by no means guaranteed. Jeffery Wright, Jared Harris and Mary Beth Hurt co-star, as well as Shyamalan himself, playing [[AuthorAvatar the visionary writer Vick]].

!! This movie contains examples of:

* CreatorCameo: Shyamalan does this in all his films. This is the first time he's a major character. But just what his character will do, [[spoiler:namely inspire a great world leader with his writing.]] ticked a lot of people off [[Main/SmallNameBigEgo for obvious reasons]].

* AuthorAvatar: Vick is a visionary writer played by Shyamalan himself. TropesAreNotGood as Shyamalan was further mocked for his somewhat egotistical casting. The existence of the StrawmanCritic character doesn't help Shyamalan's case either.

* AuthorAvatar: Vick is a visionary writer played by Shyamalan himself.

* CreatorCameo: Shyamalan does this in all his films. This is the first time he's a major character.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lady-in-the-water-poster.jpg[[caption-width:288:Time is running out for a happy ending.]]

* TheCameo: Shyamalan does this in all his films. This is the first time he's a major character.

%%* AlmightyJanitor: Cleveland, to an extent.

%%* ScareChord

* TakeThatCritics: The critic, whose demise is a thinly-veiled TakeThat against people who don't like Shyamalan's movies.
* UrbanFantasy: Narfs and Tartutic in 21st century America.

%%* SelfMadeOrphan: The Tartutic.

* AuthorAvatar: Vick.
* AlmightyJanitor: Cleveland, to an extent.
* BigBadassWolf: The Scrunts.

* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Much like ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' is a tribute to the MagnificentBastard trope, this movie revels in this one. Literally every early background character becomes crucial to the plot later on. Yet despite this, the last bit with Reggie still felt like an AssPull.]]
** His role was slightly foreshadowed [[spoiler:when he talks about how he's doing his "exercise experiments" because he wants to do something special.]]
** He's also watching in the background of a lot of crowd scenes...y'know, [[spoiler:like a watchman, or a guardian maybe?]]

* FishOutOfWater: Story, literally.

* GenreSavvy: A main plot point is the characters discovering that they are in a fairy tale, but it is soon subverted when [[spoiler:they start [[WrongGenreSavvy acting out the wrong roles]]]].

* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Story.

* LampshadeHanging: The critic.
* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters

* MeaningfulName: Story.

* MysteriousWaif: Story
* NeverTrustATrailer: This was marketed as a horror movie. But the first teaser made it look almost like a mystical romance.

* PleasePutSomeClothesOn
* RedemptionInTheRain
* ScareChord
* SelfMadeOrphan: The Tartutic.
* SexyShirtSwitch
* ShrinkingViolet: Story.
* StrawCritic
* TakeThatCritics
* UrbanFantasy
* WriterOnBoard
* WrongGenreSavvy

* TheMessiah: Vick.

* DoingItForTheArt: Pretty much Shyamalan's only excuse for including himself as TheMessiah.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Shyamalan obviously didn't realize that the word "scrunt" has a ''very'' different definition (as some Radio/HowardStern fans know.) ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' fans giggled at Shyamalan's use of the word "Narf" too.

MNightShyamalan writes and directs this self-proclaimed, grown-up "bedtime story" about an apartment building superintendent named Cleveland (Paul Giamatti) who discovers a magical sea-nymph named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) who's been transported to this world and is living in the building's own swimming pool. As this bizarre revelation sinks in, Cleveland becomes enraptured by her other-worldly charm. As he shelters her in his apartment, other inhabitants of the building begin falling into place as representations of characters from an Eastern myth in which these mermaids, or "narfs," co-exist unhappily with more beastly and violent characters. In human reality, the forces of darkness that threaten the heroes of a fairy tale prove to be much more terrifying, and the victory of good over evil is by no means guaranteed. Jeffery Wright, Jared Harris and Mary Beth Hurt co-star, as well as Shyamalan himself, playing [[AuthorAvatar the visionary writer Vick]].

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