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Signs - A Review 08/18/2002
What fun!
With a tagline of "It's not like they didn't warn us!" (courtesy of IMDB) this movie is a throw-back to the days of Alfred Hitchcock - a throw-back to the time when suspense, inuendo, tiny fleeting glimpses and your mind supplied everything necessary to keep you on pins and needles throughout the story. This clever little take-off on the "crop circles" phenonmena works very well up to the climax where it tails off a bit. Everyone around a small town in Pennsylvania, and all over the world for that matter, is becoming concerned about the re-appearance of "crop circles" in an increasing number and ever widening range. None moreso than the Hess family who wake up with one in their corn field. What do they mean? Anything? Is it local hooligans or aliens? What should they do?
M. Night Shyamalan writes and directs Signs with his now-familiar (and self-proclaimed) style. Mel Gibson (We Were Soldiers, The Patriot, Braveheart, Lethal Weapon) plays Graham Hess, the widowed father of Morgan, played by Rory Culkin (yes, Macaulay's brother) and Bo, played by Abigail Breslin. Graham is a renounced minister that lost his faith with the accidental death of his wife 6 months earlier. Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, Quills, 8mm) is Merrill, the younger, good hearted brother of Graham who has moved home to help his brother and children through the aftermath of their loss. Cherri Jones (Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The Perfect Storm, The Horse Whisperer) turns in a very good performance as Officer Paski, the compassionate yet strong woman who is always there when the Merrill's need her. Shyamalan turns in small but important appearances as the town veterinarian.
This movie works its spell on the audience by doing little things differently. There are lots of closeups of the actors with their faces showing tiny hints of discomfort or gazing "into space", pieces of dailog that are just a hair out of step and quiet audio cues that help set the tone. These things are tiny and not really noticeable by themselves but taken in whole, create a disturbing and uncomfortable atmosphere that has you jumping and cringing at times.
Visually, master cinematographer Tak Fujimoto (The Sixth Sense, Philadelphia, Gladiator, Silence Of The Lambs) has given us beautifully composed images at 1.85:1 of the Pennsylvania countryside and the warmth of the graceful and aging homes that families maintain there. The color palette used is warm and full-bodied stressing the graceful rolling hills, crops and forests which throws into sharp contrast the foreign, mechanical abstractness of the crop circles and their effects on the people around them. Detail is good with several nighttime shots which have many deep hues of greens, blues, grays and blacks.
The audio isn't overpowering as much of this movie is dailog driven. The voices come across clearly and the ambient noises of the countryside are always there. Some more direct use is made of the surround channels in shall we say, the appropriate moments.
Overall, I enjoyed Signs. It does however, lose some steam at the very end. The climactic moments of the movie seem to flash by in a few seconds - it IS longer than that - leaving something of an "Is it over already?" feeling. The ending isn't bad by any means - I just felt that from the intensity of the preceeding hour-plus buildup, there was going to be a longer moment to finalize the story for the viewer. One loose end and one other small thing are picking at my sense of contentment with the story, but I can't reveal them without compromising the ending.
Because of those two niggling things and also the rushed ending, I give Signs a :35: out of :5: - but it's a good :35:.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker
What fun!
With a tagline of "It's not like they didn't warn us!" (courtesy of IMDB) this movie is a throw-back to the days of Alfred Hitchcock - a throw-back to the time when suspense, inuendo, tiny fleeting glimpses and your mind supplied everything necessary to keep you on pins and needles throughout the story. This clever little take-off on the "crop circles" phenonmena works very well up to the climax where it tails off a bit. Everyone around a small town in Pennsylvania, and all over the world for that matter, is becoming concerned about the re-appearance of "crop circles" in an increasing number and ever widening range. None moreso than the Hess family who wake up with one in their corn field. What do they mean? Anything? Is it local hooligans or aliens? What should they do?
M. Night Shyamalan writes and directs Signs with his now-familiar (and self-proclaimed) style. Mel Gibson (We Were Soldiers, The Patriot, Braveheart, Lethal Weapon) plays Graham Hess, the widowed father of Morgan, played by Rory Culkin (yes, Macaulay's brother) and Bo, played by Abigail Breslin. Graham is a renounced minister that lost his faith with the accidental death of his wife 6 months earlier. Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, Quills, 8mm) is Merrill, the younger, good hearted brother of Graham who has moved home to help his brother and children through the aftermath of their loss. Cherri Jones (Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The Perfect Storm, The Horse Whisperer) turns in a very good performance as Officer Paski, the compassionate yet strong woman who is always there when the Merrill's need her. Shyamalan turns in small but important appearances as the town veterinarian.
This movie works its spell on the audience by doing little things differently. There are lots of closeups of the actors with their faces showing tiny hints of discomfort or gazing "into space", pieces of dailog that are just a hair out of step and quiet audio cues that help set the tone. These things are tiny and not really noticeable by themselves but taken in whole, create a disturbing and uncomfortable atmosphere that has you jumping and cringing at times.
Visually, master cinematographer Tak Fujimoto (The Sixth Sense, Philadelphia, Gladiator, Silence Of The Lambs) has given us beautifully composed images at 1.85:1 of the Pennsylvania countryside and the warmth of the graceful and aging homes that families maintain there. The color palette used is warm and full-bodied stressing the graceful rolling hills, crops and forests which throws into sharp contrast the foreign, mechanical abstractness of the crop circles and their effects on the people around them. Detail is good with several nighttime shots which have many deep hues of greens, blues, grays and blacks.
The audio isn't overpowering as much of this movie is dailog driven. The voices come across clearly and the ambient noises of the countryside are always there. Some more direct use is made of the surround channels in shall we say, the appropriate moments.
Overall, I enjoyed Signs. It does however, lose some steam at the very end. The climactic moments of the movie seem to flash by in a few seconds - it IS longer than that - leaving something of an "Is it over already?" feeling. The ending isn't bad by any means - I just felt that from the intensity of the preceeding hour-plus buildup, there was going to be a longer moment to finalize the story for the viewer. One loose end and one other small thing are picking at my sense of contentment with the story, but I can't reveal them without compromising the ending.
Because of those two niggling things and also the rushed ending, I give Signs a :35: out of :5: - but it's a good :35:.
David - HTGuide flunky
Our "Theater"
Our DVDs on DVD Tracker