Lady in the Water

M. Night Shyamalans newest flick, Lady in the water, is advertised as a bedtime story for everyone. this is so close to being true. It is a fairy tale, but it's also a story based on a fairy tale, told with hitchcockian thrills. Throughout the first half, I teetered on the line of "liking" and "really disliking" it, until about 50 minutes in when i fell for Paul Giammatti's compelling performance as Cleveland Heep, the likeable superintendant who discovers a narf in his pool. for those of you not in the know, a narf is a mermaid like character from the fairy tale who tries to bring some sortof balance to a wartorn world. Heep learns of this tale from an old resident in his building, and with the help of a very decent supporting cast (Jared Hess, M. Night Shyamalan, Jeffrey Wright), he tries to put the peices of the puzzle together for the ailing narf. Bryce Dallas Howard gives a par performance as the narf, M. Night Shyamalan gives a very good performance as the writer and Heeps main accomplice, but it is really Paul Giammatti who brings you to tears as a small man with a huge heart. I liked how Shyamalan chose to do a different genre but was still able to incorporate his style into it. good stuff.