Let me be perfectly clear about this, I did not find this to be a good movie.
I tend to try to not hold on to notions I get from others about directors and musicians and the like, and M. Night Shaylaman....Shalaman....I can't spell his name....was no different. I was inclined to believe his terribleness as a director/writer/etc. was vastly overblown. However, if this is any indication, it's not too far off the mark.
The film is the story of Story, who is a Narf (they actually use this word in the movie) that is, a water nymph from "the Blue World", an underwater world that can be accessed—apparently—via a pool in a Philadelphia apartment complex. It is in this same complex that we meet our protagonist. The Dickensianly-named Cleveland Heep, who is a stuttering emotional wreck of a man. The last part (and maybe even the first) is actually justified. We find out Mr. Heep's wife and children have been dead for some time, murdered by a burglar. Heep's stuttering could've been done without, even thoug it is justified in-story. Story herself is implied to be the heroine of the whole thing, and that's the problem. It's only implied. Cleveland is the only one who really takes any heroic action. And M. Night's character, the writer Vick, comes across as self-indulgent and frankly ridiculous. He is told he will write an important book, titled—no joke—The Cookbook, a book about his thoughts on the world. Or something. We never really find out exactly what's in the book, but we know it'll inspire a future president who will change the world.
All of this is mentioned only in passing, God help you if you happened to get up to go to the bathroom during this movie, because you'd never be able to figure out the plot just from the things that are overtly stated. There is a way to do this kind of plot well, but M. Night just plain doesn't pull it off, the mess of a story is half-redeemed only by a semi-interesting cast of characters. The notable exception is Mr. Farber, one of the worst offenders of the Straw Critic trope ever. Who dies a grisly death (shocking).
Frankly, I had hoped Mr. Shaylaman was better than the hype had implied he was. And he's just not. This was a terrible, fantastical mess of a movie, and I'd rather not see it again.
Simply Not Good
Let me be perfectly clear about this, I did not find this to be a good movie.
I tend to try to not hold on to notions I get from others about directors and musicians and the like, and M. Night Shaylaman....Shalaman....I can't spell his name....was no different. I was inclined to believe his terribleness as a director/writer/etc. was vastly overblown. However, if this is any indication, it's not too far off the mark.
The film is the story of Story, who is a Narf (they actually use this word in the movie) that is, a water nymph from "the Blue World", an underwater world that can be accessed—apparently—via a pool in a Philadelphia apartment complex. It is in this same complex that we meet our protagonist. The Dickensianly-named Cleveland Heep, who is a stuttering emotional wreck of a man. The last part (and maybe even the first) is actually justified. We find out Mr. Heep's wife and children have been dead for some time, murdered by a burglar. Heep's stuttering could've been done without, even thoug it is justified in-story. Story herself is implied to be the heroine of the whole thing, and that's the problem. It's only implied. Cleveland is the only one who really takes any heroic action. And M. Night's character, the writer Vick, comes across as self-indulgent and frankly ridiculous. He is told he will write an important book, titled—no joke—The Cookbook, a book about his thoughts on the world. Or something. We never really find out exactly what's in the book, but we know it'll inspire a future president who will change the world.
All of this is mentioned only in passing, God help you if you happened to get up to go to the bathroom during this movie, because you'd never be able to figure out the plot just from the things that are overtly stated. There is a way to do this kind of plot well, but M. Night just plain doesn't pull it off, the mess of a story is half-redeemed only by a semi-interesting cast of characters. The notable exception is Mr. Farber, one of the worst offenders of the Straw Critic trope ever. Who dies a grisly death (shocking).
Frankly, I had hoped Mr. Shaylaman was better than the hype had implied he was. And he's just not. This was a terrible, fantastical mess of a movie, and I'd rather not see it again.