How do you inspire hope when you have lost faith?
This question faces Graham Hess played by Mel Gibson in Signs the suspense thriller from M. Night Shyamalan. Shyamalan once again shows his mastery of the suspense thriller genre. Signs is another gem in the treasure chest that houses Shyamalan's genius.
Shyamalan's brilliance shines in this movie he gives you subtle hints and steadily builds upon them creating a world where the unbelievable which sits next to the impossible and in Shyamalan's world all of it becomes believable. We awake with this family on an ordinary morning with the extraordinary discovery of a crop circle in their cornfield. Shyamalan limits the amount of information we learn about this family using the information to build the emotionality of movie. The movie mimics the pace of life in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. The movie slowly builds with powerful intensity until we are running headlong alongside the Hess family.
This movie is all about its characters. The actors' portrayal is vital to making us believe this story. I'm pleased to say that each cast member rises to the occasion. Mel Gibson plays a minister who lost his faith. Gibson shows his talent with the subtlety used to pull off a huge range of emotions. When strange things start happening in and around his home relating to the crop circle in his corn field. Hess is forced to face his fears, his self, and his rejection of faith. Mel's gives another wonderful performance. His portrayal of a man overtaken by his pain is so poignant that even though we hardly know anything about Graham Hess we care for him and want to see how his journey plays out.
Two stand out performances are from Rory Culkin and Cherry Jones. Culkin's performance adds a depth of emotionality and reality that this movie needed. Culkin's character provides the information that Shyamalan parcels out in the movie. His performance is the anchor that keeps reminding us that faith looks different for everyone.
Jones plays an officer in Bucks County. Her portrayal reminded me of
Frances McDormand in Fargo minus the accent. A strong yet sensitive woman clearly providing leadership and a sense of normalcy in the town and for the Hess family. Jones' sense of her character's intelligence and sensitivity comes shining through in her performance.
My only disappointment with the movie was the use of the actors. Casting for this movie is phenomenal. How rare is it in this day and age that a cast as good as this one is comes together for a "popular" movie? Further yet how often does material as good as this comes to the big screen as a "popular" movie? We are introduced to this family and we start to care about them but we hardly know them. I wanted more. It is a testament to the actors' ability to be able to provoke such a response. Any less talent on that screen and it would have been just another movie that had potential but disappoints once again. I felt as if each piece of information on each character was so personal that Shyamalan can't bear to give them away. What's the use of having such a great cast and only use such a small amount of their range.
Despite the fact that I wanted to know more about this family M. Night
Shyamalan's storytelling and directing give this film what it needs to make it a thought provoking and nail biting success. This phenomenal cast provides the performance that propels this movie to next level making this movie a great see on video.
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Additional information provided by IMDB. (International Movie Data Base)
