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A grieving family are perturbed when a crop circle appears in their cornfield. Happy to ignore it as hoax, retired Reverend Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) just wants his family to settle down after their loss. Yet external events are soon distracting Hess, his children and his prodigal brother (Joaquin Phoenix) from their personal issues of failure, loss and blame when it appears that the crop circle is genuine and they are especially under threat.
M. Night Shyamalan's latest suffers from critical expectation that he'll stick to his winning formula developed from The Sixth Sense (1999). Take a situation you'd expect to see on The X-Files and turn it into a family drama. Finish off with an obscured but nonetheless anticipated twist to keep the more spectacle loving viewers watching while he develops the characters and mood. Those of you wanting directorial innovation in this tale of crop circles and alien invasion might feel a little disappointed. On the other hand anyone expecting an old yarn told in a new way, will agree that Shyamalan has equaled Orson Welles' radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds in his small scale re-interpretation of Independence Day (1996). He might be doing his same old tricks but he has perfected them to a level of excellence. In this master of atmosphere's hands everything from baby monitors to glasses of water tremble with visual threat and promise.
While The Sixth Sense was a very boring watch for anyone who guessed the revelation in the opening reel and then had to muddle through some rather obvious slight of hand that made up body of his ghost story, Signs improves on that well-respected film's weaknesses. Here Shyamalan has crafted a strong character piece where the participant's reactions are more for their own development than the plots. The Sixth Sense had human macguffins whose realism came from the necessity to hide the truth; here the quirks that the family displays may have importance to the trick finale but are predominantly part of constructing three dimensional protagonists for us to relate to. Both Gibson's and Phoenix's failures and doubts make them stronger heroes. Whether it is the misplaced guilt for the matriarch's death or professional failure at baseball, the plot mechanics come secondary to forming an attachment between the audience and the Hess family. Shyamalan makes real progression as a cinematic storyteller through making the twist an intersecting moment where the family reaches closure of their own personal dilemmas as opposed to a more traditional narrative hoodwink.
One unavoidable aspect of Signs is in its mirroring to the events of September 11th. Whether this was truly intentional remains to be confirmed but many moments in the film richly echo that day and it's repercussions. The TV as the narrator of outside events to the family, the growing trust in a crackpot, conspiracy theory book and even the lack of weapons in the house can be read as comment on contemporary events. If the film does have a message for our times it is one that responsibly disapproves of external aggression. The domestic setting and defensive nature of the Hess's betrays a critical tone towards action in Afghanistan and Iraq. Shyamalan wants us to believe that protection and prevention is the key to keeping America safe. Graham Hess, the patriarch of the family, has to settle his own emotional problems before his family can trust him and it is only by achieving this does he keeps his brood safe. Like Shyamalan's previous work it is the resolution of the personal that takes precedence over the narratives comment on the real world.
Reviewed by Bob Carroll
Reader comments about Signs
cal (Email address withheld) writes:
this is more like it. i notice the solution to the alien problem was discovered in the middle east. it was also nice that it was such an everyday object that proved so useful. who needs rockets and guns when you've got... i'm not going to give it away. well done, kamera.
Ajay (Email address withheld) writes:
I'm surprised this reviewer was so impressed by Signs. I found it to be a thin gruel of a movie with strictly-by-numbers characterisation, a dated premise and a lame plot. The director's vaunted psychological suspense talents seemed to have deserted him and I for one was never able to suspend disbelief - indeed the director's main failing seemed to be forgetting that his previous successes lay in NOT showing but telling. Phoenix did a good job with bad material and Shyamalan didn't fail to go somewhere (even if not always somewhere interesting) with ANYthing he pointed up, but thats the best that can be said for this film.
Matt Brown (meh_eh@hotmail.com) writes:
Signs is a movie that will stick in my head for the rest of my life. M. Night Shyamalan's mind is the most creative and inspirational mind in the world. I can't really say what I want to say because I'm in such awe at this movie. I guess it has changed the way I think of movies because of how he brought in the character development, the plot, the past, the future, and every other small part of the movie, and mixed them all up as if it were a basket being weaved in all directions, and has create a movie that has tuely outdone them all. I watched it three times in the movie theatres, and analyzed it the last two times. I guess that shouldn't be enough times to watch a movie before saying that it was the best one you have ever seen, but Signs is the only exception. I have never been actually traumatized by a movie in my entire life and I have been waiting for that perfect movie that could pull me in and make me think that I am actuallyin the film, like it did when I though that I was in Graham Hess' house or out in his claustrophobic cornfeild. I yelled at the top of my lungs about four times, which I've never done in a movie before, and when I got home, I could sleep in my room because I thought an alien's hands would come out and grab me or something. In the end of the film, when everything was being revealed, I almost started to cry because the goosebumps I had were making me tear. It was seriously one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I cannot wait until his next film. I'm sure he can think of something very unusual and fun with a Quija board, lol. I have the highest respect for M. Night Shyamalan. I know many people such as Newsweek magazine have said that he is the next Speilberg, but I know for sure that he cannot even be even close to where Speilberg is because he has already passed him up and I think that Shyamalan should be crowned the most gifted director of the century. All I can say is that Signs has changed my perspective on movies and I will pursue my dream to become a director, and I will write movies like his. He is the greatest story teller in the world!
Brianna (Email address withheld) writes:
Let me start off by saying that I am twelve years old and I absolutly adore this movie!!! I own the vista series dvd and I am very pleased with it. I thought M. Night Shamyalan is a wonderful director and is truly my role model. I direct and am starting to film a movie myself.I have watched all the documentories on how Signs was made and I am now aware that making a movie is alot harder than it looks. To end my comments, If I could rate this movie from a 1-10, I would rate it an 11!!!
Vikas Sharma (vsharma1021@hotmail.com) writes:
I agree with Matt Brown's comments here about Mr. Shyamalan. This is the best movies I ever seen. It makes you laugh,cry,shocks and scares you. Very well planned and I don't have words to explain how I feel about Mr. Shyamalan's talents. He is definitely a great story teller and certainly he is much better than Mr. Spielberg(no offense).I'm very impressed by Mr. Shyamalan.God bless him.Waiting for his next movie eagerly.
samatha (starr61@html.com) writes:
it was such a GREAT movie me and my friend watched it at her place at nightime thats what made it really freaky it was too good and joaquin pheonix is the sexiest beast alive but when i meet him im not going to scream in his face and take lots of photos. ( when i saw th alien walk past the bushes on the news on the movie that really scared the shit out of me! )
samantha (supastar_218@hotmail.com) writes:
It's me again starr61 but i changed my email so joaquin if u see please send an email. Yeah man when i saw that alian it was so scary that the next time i watched it it was hilarios me and jess watched it at night (again) and pissed ourselves laughing! cos it's so freaky!!!!! i love u so much joaquin i've nener liked anyone as much as you your the best actor in my little world! i've seen tou in 9 movies in about 5 or 6 months i just love your acting and your fabulous in signs! did u get scared when you watched it?
Kaz (Email address withheld) writes:
What a terrible film, it was supposed to be scary and have you on the edge of your seat - perhaps I was so busy laughing at how bad it was, I missed the plot entirely!
Tyler.D. (Email address withheld) writes:
I too thought this film was rubbish. However, it did have some nicely placed jumpy parts, such as the skinny green alien walking across the screen, but the rest of the movie was poor. I got a bit confused at the end when I thought the alien was trying to give air to the child (to save its life), which would have been a nice twist. But instead it was your predictable green alien gas. I also felt the film was a bit insulting to those people who believe in aliens, and the actual alien itself was so awfully predictable. The film didn't meet my expectations at all.
Jocelyn (Email address withheld) writes:
I think this is one of the most dumb movies of recent years. The whole premise miserably falls appart at the end:
WHY WOULD AN ALIEN SPIECIES, SO TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED (THEY TRAVEL LIGHTS YEARS TO GET HERE, THAT TAKES CONSIDERABLE TECHNOLOGY!) WOULD COME TO A PLANET FILLED WITH WATER IF THEY'RE ALLERGIC TO IT? AT LEAST BRING SOME PROTECTIVE SUITS FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! DON'T GO RUNNING AROUND NAKED! WHAT KIND OF INVASION THAT? WHAT IF IT RAINS???
I think the director/writer got too enamoured with the idea of the main character trying to rediscover his faith that he forgot to make the alien invasion plot work. A complete waste of time.
Bobby C (Email address withheld) writes:
Matt you gotta be kiddin'. This movie had all the tension of a warm jelly. It was like the wizard of oz meets war of the worlds but with neither the fun of the former nor the drama and excitement of the latter. I hope since viewing signs you have taken yourself off to the cinema and seen the second movie of your life and now signs will probably not be the best movie you have ever seen.
Matt. H (Email address withheld) writes:
First of all, to those of you complaining about how "unrealistic" Signs was. IT'S A MOVIE! If you think that the movie was about the main character trying to rediscover his faith then maybe you should see it again. Throughout the movie the main character is talking about how he won't return to the church. If you think this movie has all the tension of a "warm jelly" then maybe you should think about how you would feel if the world was being invaded by aliens. Tyler.D.- why would the alien give the boy air if it's trying to kill off the human race?!? I've got one last criticism to make to all of you people (Jocelyn). Two words: spell check.
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