A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

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Title: The Sixth Sense

Date Viewed: 7 August, 1999

Details:

Bruce Willis

Toni Collette

Olivia Williams

Haley Joel Osment

Written and directed by: M. Night Shyamalan

Score: +

The Review: Bruce Willis is a good and sensitive child psychologist; we know that because he has just received an award to that effect from the mayor of Philadelphia. When his celebratory evening with his wife (Olivia Williams) is interrupted by the break-in and violent confrontation by the adult "result" of one of his earlier, less successful cases, his luck changes dramatically. As he picks up the pieces, along with a new case with seemingly similar undertones, his marriage looks as though it has begun disintegrating. Needless to say, things are not as they seem.

This is a well-done and quite clever psychological thriller, with a pair of interpenetrating mysteries (one obvious; the other less so) and some startling twists and turns. Watch very carefully for Willis' interactions with the characters. The young boy he is trying to help (Haley Joel Osment) turns out to have a very unusual talent -- one revealed rather blatantly in the trailers, which is a shame, since its chilling nature comes across somewhat later in the film -- a talent that has him terrified and reluctant to talk with his divorced mother (Toni Collette) or to anyone at school. The film's tension is carefully constructed. While it has some of the hallmarks of a classic horror film, it is without the drive and heart-stopping intent -- it is more Henry James than John Carpenter, but no less suspenseful because of that.

This is one of Willis' best dramatic roles in a long time. No, he doesn't have much range in this film, but what he shows is entirely appropriate to his focused role of trying to calm and ground troubled children. His slow building of trust is well-done and compelling. Osment is superb as the haunted and frightened child. Themes are reminiscent of Mercury Rising, but overall The Sixth Sense is better. Recommended.

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