Lady in the Water…of Cynical Critics
Shaun Mitchell
I just came back from seeing M. Night Shayamalan’s Lady in the Water. This is not a movie review, however. I am writing because that is how I express myself and hopefully someone will read this one day and know what I am talking about.
I loved this movie. To be perfectly blunt, it gave me the kind of goose-bumps that make you feel warm inside, like a kid gets when seeing fireworks for the first time. That is saying something because, honestly, I never get goose-bumps. Now to the reason why I am writing this little essay: to try and understand why critics and audiences hated this movie.
As of today, July 30, 2006, Lady in the Water has a 22% approval rating of all major and minor critics, according to Rottentomatoes.com. It would probably be even less if audience polls were taken. Whether that number is going to change or not, I don’t know. But to be honest, this is one of the cases where a critic’s word may not be golden.
As I watching the movie, (on the beach, no less) two middle-aged women and one middle-aged couple got up and left about a quarter into the movie; pretty much just as the plot was starting to thicken like a succulent stew. Then, as I was walking off of the beach with my parents, (yes, I saw the movie with my parents) I overheard multiple conversations bashing the movie. All of this got me deeply disturbed. I was disturbed mainly because the greatest fault of this movie, according to critics and hateful audiences, is the whole basis of the movie – the fantasy element.
People said that what happens in the movie could never happen in real life and that the plot was full of holes. Well let me tell you something – so is Swiss cheese, but people still eat it. Of course these things couldn’t happen in real life, it is a fantasy-filled story. If you want to be that cynical and believe that sea-nymphs called “narfs” can’t exist, even in movies, then you are better off not coming to the movies at all. If you can believe that Patrick Swayze is a ghost chasing after Demi Moore, or that Harry Potter can go through platform nine-and-three-quarters, then you can damn well believe that Bryce Dallas Howard is the friggen Lady in the Water. And if you can’t, then I feel bad for you. I really do. It means your imagination is clogged by thoughts of too much reality.
Maybe I’m just a dreamer. Maybe I’m too imaginative. But when has that become a bad thing? I believe that movies, films, motion pictures, whatever you choose to call them, were created for a certain entertainment value that folks in reality do not get on a daily basis. Where else can we see the magical land of Narnia? Where else can we see a man made of machines and still have scissors for hands? Since when have we, as a people, become so blinded by ourselves to not see the beauty of a motion picture that tried to do something only the lucky ones have been doing for years – dream. M. Night Shayamalan is a dreamer like me. Maybe that’s why I liked the movie so much. Maybe that’s why Tim Burton movies appeal to me so much.
I like a deep movie as much as the next person. A solid drama with nothing but tight dialogue, great acting performances, and a gripping plot will keep me entertained without the special effects and the fantasy. But when does a fantastic view of the world make a movie dull or silly? Maybe Lady in the Water failed at being too deep, but what happened to the entertainment quality of a movie? Where has that gone and what does it count for, if anything?
I believe in movies. I do, I really do. Movies are always able to evoke emotions and images and feelings and visions that nothing else besides books come close to. When movies like Lady in the Water get a bad rep for trying to be unique, different, engaging, everything a movie should be, it makes me worried about the future of cinema. This movie has a thought provoking story, frightening images, funny dialogue, and a masterful performance by Paul Giammatti. If critics and audiences cannot see past a creative bedtime story involving a creature from another world, then we have got some serious issues people. I encourage going to movies with an open mind. Believe the unbelievable. See the invisible. Imagine the unimaginable.
That’s what movies are for.
Previous Page
Back to Horizons Spring 2007 Vol. 24
Next Page