"The Sixth Sense" is kinda like a feature film version of a really good episode of "The Twilight Zone." It's got that creepiness to it, and it has genuinely frightening moments. It also has moments that will reduce you to tears, which was something I didn't expect.
There are three key characters in "The Sixth Sense," and they were each played by people who gave incredible performances. The first is Bruce Willis. He plays his character very subdued and low-key. There isn't a lotta room for overacting in the role, and Bruce nails each line, each shot, each scene. Then there's Haley Joel Osment, who you may remember as the son of the title character in "Forrest Gump." That kid blew me away. He wasn't just some cute kid who was told what to do, he truly "acted." He's just a child, but the performance was absolutely brilliant, and though I doubt it'll make sense to anyone, he seemed to have an internal thing going... like, his character is a tormented soul who is torn up on the inside, and it shows. Okay, I know it sounds hokey, but it makes sense to me, okay? Just take my word for it, the kid is fantastic. Finally, there's Toni Collette (she looks really familiar, but the only other role she played that I know of is as "Muriel" in "Muriel's Wedding," which I've never seen), his mom. She really brought something to her character. Out of all the characters in the movie, her's is probably the most human. Everything about her performance is perfect. As for the rest of the cast, Olivia Williams (she was the hottie teacher in "Rushmore") plays the wife of Bruce Willis' character, and she plays it well... though the role is small and thankless. Former member of "New Kids on the Block," Donnie Wahlberg, is shockingly good in a role where he's practically unrecognizable. Since I like being vague, I won't tell you the role he plays. See if you can figure it out. There's also a not-so-secret cameo by the writer/director of the movie.
The writer/director I speak of is M. Night Shyamalan. He's an Indian director (born in India, though raised in Philadelphia, PA), and after the success of "Elizabeth" (directed by another Indian, Shekhar Kapur) and now "The Sixth Sense," we're gonna probably see a lot more work from Indian directors, and if the quality is as high as "Elizabeth" and "The Sixth Sense," that's something to really look forward to. As a side note, few people realize that in India, more movies are made in a given year than anywhere else in the world, and yes, that includes the good ol' U.S. of A. Interesting, eh? Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, the writer/director of "The Sixth Sense" is M. Night Shyamalan blah blah blah. Okay, this is the first movie I've ever seen by this guy, but before "The Sixth Sense," he wrote and directed "Wide Awake," a family movie starring Rosie O' Donnell, and prior to that, he wrote and directed "Praying with Anger," which I never heard of. He's one of the writers in the upcoming film, "Stuart Little," so I'm gonna hafta check that out. M. Night Shyamalan wrote and directed a great movie here, and I can't wait to see more from him.
"The Sixth
Sense" is a movie where after it was over, I walked towards the exit doors
and saw quite a few people remain seated, wiping tears from their eyes.
The movie won't end like you expect (unless some schmuck ruins it for you),
and it fools with your emotions. It's a wonderful experience to watch this
movie. So go see it, dammit.