Some Bedtime Stories Are For Grownups
Lady in the Water Captures Imagination

Let's get this straight: M. Night Shyamalan does not make horror movies. I am so tired of hearing people say that they don't like his movies because they aren't scary. There are occasional frightening moments in his films, but the overall purpose of his films is not to scare audiences. With Lady in the Water, he creates a quiet bedtime story. Fans of Shyamalan's previous work will appreciate this amazing film filled with wonder and imagination.

Lady in the Water
A mythical creature named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard, left) must rely on apartment superintendent Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) to get her home. (Warner Bros., 2006)
Directed by: M. Night Shyamalan
Written by: M. Night Shyamalan
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban, Sarita Choudhury, and Cindy Cheung

Rated PG-13 (for some frightening sequences)
Running time: 110 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 9 out of 10.

Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) is an apartment building superintendent who knows his tenants and cares for them the best he can. His affable charm is hindered only by an uncontrollable stutter. His world is changed, however, when he discovers a mythical creature in the apartment swimming pool.

Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) introduces herself as a "narf," one of the people of the Blue World sent to help humanity. With some help from his neighbors Mrs. Choi (June Kyoto Lu) and her daughter Young-Soon (Cindy Cheung), Cleveland learns the ancient legend of the narfs and their role in our world.

Cleveland discovers that Story is looking for a writer whom she is meant to inspire. A quest of storybook proportions unfolds as he undertakes the task of finding the writer in question. In doing so the audience learns more about his tenants as well. Mr. Dury (Jeffrey Wright) and his son Joey (Noah Gray-Cabey) are crossword puzzle enthusiasts, Mrs. Bell (Mary Beth Hurt) is a kind lady who takes care of animals, and Reggie (Freddy Rodríguez) is a body builder who -- in the name of "science" -- is only exercising the right half of his body. Shyamalan, who is well-known for making cameos in his films, has a small but vital role as a writer who will shape the future.

The newest resident is Harry Farber (Bob Balaban), a film and literary critic who moves into the building. His weary approach to his job suggests that he is burnt out. He believes there is nothing new under the sun and every story has been told. Farber is seemingly meant to be the embodiment of all of Shyamalan's critics. The director, however, is given his not-so-subtle chance to respond to his critics by making Farber an obstacle to the story.

With limited setting and a large ensemble cast, Shyamalan does what he does best. He builds a fantasy world wherein the fantastic is a device that allow him to explore the human condition. The plot, surprisingly, isn't about a muse finding the one she must inspire. It's about her inspiring the apartment community to come together to aide her return to the Blue World.

The beauty of the film is in the acting. Giamatti is excellent as the troubled, yet generous, Cleveland Heep. His character is a key to the fairy tale, the one looking out for Story and trying to protect her from the dark creatures. Howard, who worked with Shyamalan in The Village, is extraordinary. The large cast is wonderful in that they don't stand out too much. They could be anyone. They could be us.

Shyamalan's movies are character driven, designed to examine aspects of humanity. Unbreakable wasn't a comic book movie, it was a story of identity. Signs wasn't about an alien invasion, it was about faith. The Village had less to do with monsters in the woods than the innocence that the woods protected. Yes, The Sixth Sense was a ghost story of sorts, but it was really an examination of perception.

Lady in the Water can be seen as a story about finding one's purpose, much like the film Unbreakable. But it is also a fable and a metaphor for building our future, with the knowledge that change comes at a price and it is only through working together that we can accomplish it. Saying that Shyamalan's films are horror films is as crazy as saying Field of Dreams is about baseball. If that's what you think, you are really missing the boat.

Lady in the Water is a film that touches on an emotional level like Cocoon or The Neverending Story. It speaks to the good in us, asking us to reconnect with each other and rise to our fullest potential. While such a film may be lost on a cynical society, it is a beautiful bedtime story that I want to hear again and again.