M. Knight and his Lady Take a Dive

M. Knight Shyamalan's "Lady in the Water" was getting a negative buzz well before it's release this weekend. Now that it scored just $18.2 million [just?] and came in 3rd at the box office, many people will write off both Shyamalan and his movie.

And that's too bad.

The biggest knock against M. Knight is that he creates glorified "Twilight Zone" episodes for the big screen. Sure, many of M. Knight's movies do have a big twist at the end, and his movies do have a reoccurring theme of faith, redemption, and that there are mysterious forces around us [like some of the better TZ episodes]. And while I can see where his critics get this complaint, my response is, "So what?" I love classic Twilight Zone episodes.

"Lady in the Water" is a modern day fairy tale. Perhaps we're just too jaded to get it. But, and this is a big but, if you're willing to go with the tale, you'll have a good time. Paul Giamatti is amazing in this role. Academy Award amazing. The rest of the cast is splendid. The direction, special effects and music all add to the overall enjoyment of the film. But the bottom line is if you sit back and start to analyze the film as anything but a fairy tale [which it was meant to be], it falls apart. But then so would "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Three Bears" and even a classic movie like "The Wizard of Oz."

While "Lady in the Water" isn't a classic movie [no, it's not on par with "The Wizard of Oz"] that can be embraced by the masses, there is an audience for it. To be perfectly honest, I didn't think that I was going to like "Lady in the Water" as much as I did and I'm a Shyamalan fan. And there's the rub. If a fan like me wasn't overly excited about the story, then how are you going to get non-fans into the theater? The answer appears to be that you're not.

And that's too bad. "Lady in the Water" rates a B.