The Sixth Sense (1999)
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Starring: Bruce Willis, Hely Joel Osment, Toni Collette
Synopsis:
A once well-regarded child psychologist takes up the case of a tormented boy who claims that he can see ghosts.
Impressions:
This movie was a big deal when it came out and it secured M Night Shyamalan's place as a rising star in the film world. Now, in light of his catastrophic downfall, it's easy to wonder if his first big hit was really that good after all. It's been years since the last time I saw this, so revisiting it gave me the opportunity to give it a nice hard look and I'm quite happy to report that it's every bit as good as when I first saw it. If anything, giving it a more critical look only serves to highlight how well-constructed it. There's a nice slow burn to build up the tension to the big turning point and then we move to nicely tying up the main character arcs. People who mostly know Bruce Willis from his action roles might find him a curious choice to play a child psychologist, but he does have solid dramatic chops and I imagine his earlier role as a psychiatrist in Color of Night helped him in his portrayal here. At the time I first watched this, I can remember not liking Haley Joel Osment from one of his previous TV roles, but he really is a solid actor and despite him not being the director's first choice for the part of Cole, I can't imagine any other child actor pulling it off so well. It's great going in not knowing the twist, but if you do, there's another sort of enjoyment to be had picking up all the hints along the way. While Shyamalan's filmography is quite the bumpy ride, but this is without a doubt the peak of his career (barring some later miracle) and definitely deserves a place in your collection.
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