Unbreakable

SCRIBE'S SO THAT'S WHY I NEVER GOT HERPES WHEN I WAS A FOOTBALL PLAYER REVIEW:

When the subject of the best comic book movie comes up, I usually mention Unbreakable.

Although not a film based on a comic book, it is a film about the mythology and various archetypes found in their pages. This is no Kevin Smith fanboy flick giving shout-outs, this is a film dealing with the essential themes in comics which, the movie argues, are merely an extension of a vaguely remembered fact of human existence.

The plot concerns a normal guy (Willis) with an abnormally high tolerance for pain and illness and an abnormal guy (Jackson) whose bones are so brittle, he is born with a broken arm. The former spends his life seeking fulfillment that never seems to come unless he’s helping people, and the latter spends his seeking answers to why he was born with such a horrible weakness.

(Jackson’s) mother realizes early on he is well on his way to becoming a hermit and decides to use comic books as a method for enticing him to leave their apartment. Soon the boy is deeply enmeshed in comic book lore and, unsurprisingly, grows up to become an advocate of comic books as an art form, even going so far as to open a gallery.

In the meantime, (Willis) winds up taking a train from New York back to Pittsburgh that derails and kills everyone except him. Not only is he not killed, he also isn’t hurt. The same can’t be said for his emotions, however, as we soon get a look at his dying marriage.

In the midst of all this misery and quiet introspection, a startling fact begins to emerge. (Jackson) is convinced that (Willis) is the hero written of in comic books as some type of half-remembered being from the distant past. Heroes, he theorizes, arise in nature as a form of species protection. Comic books are just an outrageous, four-color extension of a very real fact.

The question, “Have you ever been sick?” becomes the running theme of the film. It is a deceptively simple question that portends huge developments through the course of the story.

Unbreakable is an excellent film and should be used as an example whenever someone doubts M. Night Shama-lama-lama-ding-dong’s inherent brilliance as a storyteller. Yes, he has become more focused on his trademark trick ending nowadays, but this was his second big film and the ending is effectively shocking and disturbing unlike “The Sixth Sense” with its predictable final moment.

The actors are all excellent, from Bruce Willis’ understated everyman to Samuel L. Jackson’s tormented loner to Robin Wright Penn’s conflicted good-wife. Even the kid is good. Shamalyan wisely chose not to make this a super-hero film and instead told an extended origin story. It was a wise choice in light of the flood of costumed hero films that have cropped up during the New Millennium.

Perfect mood, perfect atmosphere, none of that adolescent angst over death crap from the Sixth Sense, and the actors all know their roles inside and out.

***** out of *****


GREEN'S FOOTBALL STADIUM SECURITY GUARD BLUES REVIEW:


Wow. For a movie with a run time of 106 minutes, this movie seemed to drag on for-ever.

The only other M. Night Shamalyan movie I had seen before this was the excellent thriller "Sixth Sense", which gave me confidence that this film would be up to the task.

Not quite.

I'm not disrespecting this movie, because I thought it was good - but not great. I thought the story had an interesting premise; that there is a balance between Bruce Willis' and Samuel L. Jackson's characters- perfectly opposite in every way, most notably health-wise, as noted by scribe-o-rama in his review. However, there are some dead spots in the film where I had to shake myself awake and go back to make sure I didn't miss anything.

Willis and Jackson are excellent as usual. Having worked together before, they have a good feel for each other's talents and can play off of each other in a way that you may not get with other actors. In the same way, Willis had worked with Shamalyan before so had an idea of what the director was looking for. There really weren't enough scenes with Robin Wright Penn's character to judge her performance as either good or bad.

Shamalyan is a good storyteller but has a tendency to get caught up in his own cleverness. I do like that he writes himself small parts in his films, which is slightly more than Hitchcock's trademark cameos.

My favorite scene in this film was when an indignant Elijah kicks that potential customer out of his gallery because he was going to buy the comic art for his four year old son (presumably to color on, thus ruining it.)

***½ out of *****