M. Night Shyamalan's Lady in the Water

A Bedtime Story was the inspiration for this very grown up tale. That's what the soft-spoken M. Night Shyamalan told viewers in his interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show. Denying Stewart's half-teasing suggestion of nightmares and phobias as inspiration, Shyamalan admitted to growing his latest film out of a bedtime story made up for his children. As always in his films, Shyamalan creates a sort of interface; our world and the world of the ethereal meet on the screen as utterly ordinary people are drawn in to help this extraordinary young woman. Shyamalan casts Bryce Dallas Howard (last seen as the blind heroine in The Villge) as his leading lady once again--this time to be an otherworldly muse for his character, a young writer. ...it is however, classic Shyamalan: fresh and plot-twisty poigniant and thought provoking... Movie-goers have come to expect the unexpected with Shyamalan. But still the avante-garde writer-director managed to avoid a suspense-thriller rut with Lady in the Water. It is not The Sixth Sense with mind-bending plot twists. It is not Signs, full of nearly unbearable suspense. It is certainly not archaic and strange a-la-The Village. It is, however, classic Shyamalan: fresh and plot-twisty, poigniant and thought-provoking. And this time around, movie-goers get to see a great deal more of the director than just two-minute cameo as a supporting actor, or a coy reflection in a medicine cabinet. Lady even sneaks in a neat jab at movie critics, and the horrible fate of that extremely unlikable character has prompted this writer to adamantly express her appreciation for Shyamalan's work, lest a hideous mythical beast rend her limb-from-limb one cliched and stormy night.