The Sixth Sense (1999)


There are many directors who make a classic film and then follow it up with a career that, in retrospect, results in critics having to rethink if that one movie was truly great to begin with.  M. Night Shyamalan is one of those.  The Sixth Sense was not his first film, with his first two being unspectacular coming-of-age films.  The Sixth Sense was something different for both Shyamalan and audiences at the time it came out but, since its success, he has tried to make a career out of making movies with a twist to the point where it has become ridiculous.  After Unbreakable, the movie that followed this one, things rapidly began to go downhill to the point where Shyamalan's name is a punchline rather than being remembered for one of the highest grossing and well-regarded movies in history. 

Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is a successful child psychologist who has just won an award for his practice.  However, not everyone is happy with him.  Vincent Gray (Donnie Wahlberg) blames Crowe for his failures in life and, on the night that Crowe and his wife Anna (Olivia Williams) are celebrating, breaks in and shoots his former doctor.  After recovering Crowe goes back to his practice, but things have become cold between him and his wife. 

A year later Malcolm takes an interest in a boy named Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment).  Cole's mother Lynn (Toni Collette) is at her wit's end with her son, who is withdrawn and secretive with her.  He does not have any friends and his classmates think he is crazy.  Malcolm befriends him and finds out that Cole's issues come from the fact that he can see and interact with ghosts, a situation that keeps him in constant fear.  At first Malcolm is skeptical, but after revisiting his old patient files begins to believe there is something there, and works to help Cole deal with his issues.

The Sixth Sense is still as good as everyone remembers.  I had not seen it since 1999, and that is largely because of the ending. When one knows what is coming it takes a bit of the surprise away, although it is interesting to see everything that leads up to the final reveal.  To that end M. Night Shyamalan pays attention to the details so that everything makes sense.  At this point I don't believe he was planning on basing his entire career off of this type of trick, and the proof is that down the line they become easier to guess and also a lot lazier.  

Here, however, everything comes together in a way it never would again for him, despite the occasional success that would pop up here and there.  The movie takes its time, not dealing in jump scares but rather atmosphere, even after Cole confides his secret to Malcolm.  At that point is when we, as the audience, see the ghosts and get a sense of why Cole is the way he is.  It is surprisingly graphic in those instances for a PG-13 film, but drives home how a 9-year-old boy is having to deal with such images with no support system.

Bruce Willis gets to do a fine dramatic job even though this was kind of a contractual obligation film for him.  Toni Collette is wonderful as Cole's mom, and Haley Joel Osment did such an amazing job that it briefly got him a number of prestige movie roles before he started to age out of being a child star.  Even Shyamalan is at the top of his game as this is beautifully directed and well-paced.  

Although Shyamalan has proven a few times that The Sixth Sense was not a fluke it still stands head and shoulders above anything he has done since.  It is a hard act to follow, and Unbreakable did a decent job of doing so.  Still, it is sad to realize that he had this in him, has more in him as well, but still has handled his career in an awful, embarrassing matter.  Even after all this time, even after knowing how it resolves, this movie has emotional impact unlike many other films, horror or otherwise.  I hope that some day M. Night Shyamalan sits down and realizes that it's not the surprise ending that made this movie so popular, but the characters and the humanity behind it. 

The Sixth Sense (1999)
Time: 107 minutes
Starring: Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette
Director: M. Night Shyamalan

 

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