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The Sixth Sense begins with simple enough opening credits, and then we see Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) with his wife Anna (Olivia Williams) after Malcolm had won a prestigious award for child psychiatry. However, they hear rustling, and a former patient, Vincent Grey (Donnie Wahlberg), comes in and accuses him of not curing himself. Vincent then shoots Malcolm and himself.
Six or eight months later, Malcolm finds a new patient, Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment). He has problems at home, and so does Malcolm. It seems that Malcolm has put so much time into his work he can’t spend any more time with Anna. However, as Malcolm’s sessions with Cole become more productive and we find out why Cole is so upset-“I see dead people.” So Malcolm has to figure out why they attack Cole while sorting out problems at home with Anna.
There is not one thing I would change about this movie. The acting is top-notch, the chills are supreme and genuine, and I found myself loving this movie.
Osment was, for lack of a better word, screwed at the Oscars. He deserved his Best Supporting Actor Oscar more than Michael Caine (though he also was excellent in The Cider House Rules). Osment displayed solid emotions and really did everything his role required him to do. If Tatum O’Neal can win an Oscar at a young age, so could Osment. Willis didn’t say one “yippie-kay-yay” and portrayed his role earnestly and with lots of heart. Williams and Toni Collette (who plays Cole’s mother) also did outstanding jobs, but perhaps the most standout performance (next to Osment) was Wahlberg. His part was tiny, but important, and he worked hard for it, losing thirty pounds and displaying true fear, just like Osment.
Rather than going for the ultra-gore, Shyamalan went for perfect creeps. With chilling music that gets you at the bone, he uniquely displayed torments to the characters and to us. Although I have seen the movies many times, I was still spooked. I feel glad that he didn’t have to go to the lowest common denominator and show blood and brain matter everywhere (during a suicide, he was nice enough to keep it off screen). This is a movie that, if you rent on a Saturday night, you’ll be up till dawn.
Shyamalan (who also wrote) decided to put in strong dramatic elements. Willis slowly losing his wife was played with great tenderness and not mockery or cruelness. Its ginger display of human life taking a turn for the worse really stood out. That is good movie making when you can combine three things to make a standout movie: acting, thrills, and drama.
I actually wanted The Sixth Sense to go on for a lot longer. I wanted to see more of the plight of Malcolm and Cole; I was transfixed. And the ending twist still was somewhat of a shock, even though I know what it was. I couldn’t see it even if it stared me in the face, which it did. Shyamalan put in symbolism, which becomes obvious once you see it the second time. Evidence for the twist is so obvious when you are watching it for a repeated time, you’ll wonder how you missed it. As I said before: that’s great moviemaking.
Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material and violent images.
Review Date: January 12, 2003