The Village
Since following up his breakout hit The Sixth Sense with his masterpiece Unbreakable, Shyamalan has worked hard to live up to the expectations created by those two films. However, he might want to think about steering those expectations away from what is quickly becoming a formula—something no director of Shyamalan's talent's should want to be known for. In The Village, the usual twists and turns associated with his movies seem to be the sole purpose of the film, resulting in a script full of simplistic moral platitudes and a lackluster plot full of holes that make those twists and turns much easier to see coming. Sigourney Weaver and Brendan Gleeson are woefully underutilized, but Bryce Dallas Howard is a revelation in her first leading role and takes control of the movie when it is demanded of her. William Hurt, who could read the ingredients off a bag of potato chips and make it sound interesting, just leaves you wondering why his résumé is so spotty. Roger Deakins' always effective cinematography captures the misty cool eeriness of a Northeastern autumn perfectly.