Lady In The Water

Lady In The Water

***1/2

Reviewed by: Moominkat

It's such a joy when a fantasy film satisfies. I've read a couple of damning reviews of 'Lady in the Water', some suggesting that Shyamalan should give up making films, that he's become self-indulgent - but, for me, 'Lady in the Water' ticked all the adult fable/bedtime-story boxes.

It's creepy, it has mists, monsters, a beautiful other-worldly heroine with a quest who is in grave danger, a tortured but noble (if unlikely looking) hero, and a cast of daft, yet kindly 'villagers', inhabitants of the Philadelphia condominium where the tale is set.

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It's a fabulous conceit. I even accepted the cod-mythology Shyamalan has concocted - usually made up mythologies make me cringe with embarrassment. The only bum note is the names he's made up for his fairy-tale characters: 'narf' for his water maiden is just clunky and, yes, naff. Not fantastical enough for my ears. The evil hyena-like monster is called a 'scrunt', which just about works, but 'tartutic'? But then, it's not my story.

So, self-indulgent it may be, fantasy-fluff it definitely is, but I was glued to the story and hardly aware of time passing.

Reviewed on: 07 Sep 2006
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A lonely janitor struggles to save a lost fairytale creature.
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Read more Lady In The Water reviews:

Chris ****
Angus Wolfe Murray ****
Jennie Kermode **1/2
Amber Wilkinson **

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Writer: M Night Shyamalan

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban, Sarita Choudhury, Cindy Cheung, M. Night Shyamalan, Freddy Rodríguez, Bill Irwin, Mary Beth Hurt, Noah Gray-Cabey

Year: 2006

Runtime: 110 minutes

BBFC: PG - Parental Guidance

Country: USA

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