The Sixth Sense (6 August 1999)
directed by M. Night Shyamalan
starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, Toni Collette, Olivia Williams, Donnie Wahlberg, Peter Anthony Tambakis, Glenn Fitzgerald, Trevor Morgan, Angelica Torn, Tony Michael Donnelly
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MPAA rating: Studio: Hollywood Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment Script: M. Night Shyamalan Music: James Newton Howard Running time: 106 minutes Award: 1999 Bram Stoker Award for Screenplay Tags: children; death; Horror; Philadelphia; psychology; suicide; Thriller Tactical strength: [8/10]
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for intense thematic material and violent images
The Sixth Sense opens to Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) and his wife (Tony Collette) celebrating his recent award for great service in child psychology from the mayor of Philadelphia. Before the couple can consummate the occasion, the discover Victor, a former patient, has broken into their home. Victor shoots Malcolm in the stomach and then commits suicide.
The next scene jumps several months into the future. Malcolm has a new patient, Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), with symptoms nearly identical to Victor's symptoms. Cole seems somewhat paranoid and distant, and he also has scratches and bruises that look like some sort of abuse. He also has a hard time socializing with schoolmates, who at a birthday party lock Cole in a small closet. In traditional redemption style, Malcolm must help Cole to atone for his failure with Victor--even if it costs him his relationship with his wife.
After earning Cole's trust, Malcolm learns Cole's secret: Cole can see dead people. Malcolm must decide how to deal with this revelation and whether he can help Cole. To say much more would spoil the well crafted surprises in the plot.
Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment provide fabulous performances. Their facial expressions and intonation provide volumes of subtext behind the sometimes minimal dialog. Bruce Willis even managed not to not once evoke John McClane, his character from Die Hard; I don't think he even threw one punch. And my complements to director M. Night Shyamalan: his direction and the subsequent editing created a spooky environment that wasn't the typical ghosts and gore of the modern horror film. He includes just enough violence to make you understand the real danger in Cole's world without the needless scenes of blood and entrails. Shyamalan also kept a very tight reign on the rules of interaction between Malcolm and Cole. You can watch The Sixth Sense multiple times, and you realize that Shyamalan has carefully constructed every scene to support his premise, but you do get tired of him trying to push the color red as a symbol for "creeping things happen in this scene."
I must admit that on my first viewing the ending took me totally by surprise. Usually I can see "surprise" endings within a few minutes of the opening of the film. Shyamalan has built a plot that supports the surprise ending in every way and never telegraphs the ending.
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