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UNBREAKABLE
M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis reunite for a disturbing little chiller from 2000 called Unbreakable that takes an offbeat look at the possible origin of the comic heroes and how much of it is predestined. Will do my best to talk about this one without spoilers.
Willis plays David Dunne, a security guard who is on a commuter train that derails and kills the other 131 people on board. Not only does David survive, but he comes out of the ordeal without a scratch. Shortly after returning to work, David receives a mysterious note asking if he's ever been sick. It is revealed that the note came from an Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) an artist who has suffered from a bone disease that has made his bones so delicate and easily breakable that he has been known as "Mr. Glass" all his life. Price forces David to look into his own health history, which seems to be the polar opposite of Price's...it is revealed that David not only has never been sick or injured a day in his life and that he has superhuman strength and that these attributes are no accident.
Shyamalan, no stranger to bizarre and stomach turning storytelling, takes a completely unforeseen look at the origin of a form of entertainment that defies cinematic convention as we are forced to look at the possibility that comic book heroes are more than a product of a writer's imagination and it is unsettling as the writer and director slowly moves to this conclusion that our tortured protagonist is being pushed toward.
Another disturbing layer is added to the story when what is coming to light about David is tearing his family apart. His wife (Robin Wright Penn), who sleeps in a separate room, is unable to believe what is happening while son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) is not only embracing it but forcing Dad to face what is going on in several startling ways.
This movie asks some uncomfortable questions and is a little too leisurely getting to a rushed conclusion, a staple of Shyamalan's work, but there are some stylish directorial touches with solid work from Willis, Jackson, and an absolutely breathtaking musical score by James Newton Howard. It's a wild ride, but it's worth a look.
M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis reunite for a disturbing little chiller from 2000 called Unbreakable that takes an offbeat look at the possible origin of the comic heroes and how much of it is predestined. Will do my best to talk about this one without spoilers.
Willis plays David Dunne, a security guard who is on a commuter train that derails and kills the other 131 people on board. Not only does David survive, but he comes out of the ordeal without a scratch. Shortly after returning to work, David receives a mysterious note asking if he's ever been sick. It is revealed that the note came from an Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) an artist who has suffered from a bone disease that has made his bones so delicate and easily breakable that he has been known as "Mr. Glass" all his life. Price forces David to look into his own health history, which seems to be the polar opposite of Price's...it is revealed that David not only has never been sick or injured a day in his life and that he has superhuman strength and that these attributes are no accident.
Shyamalan, no stranger to bizarre and stomach turning storytelling, takes a completely unforeseen look at the origin of a form of entertainment that defies cinematic convention as we are forced to look at the possibility that comic book heroes are more than a product of a writer's imagination and it is unsettling as the writer and director slowly moves to this conclusion that our tortured protagonist is being pushed toward.
Another disturbing layer is added to the story when what is coming to light about David is tearing his family apart. His wife (Robin Wright Penn), who sleeps in a separate room, is unable to believe what is happening while son Joseph (Spencer Treat Clark) is not only embracing it but forcing Dad to face what is going on in several startling ways.
This movie asks some uncomfortable questions and is a little too leisurely getting to a rushed conclusion, a staple of Shyamalan's work, but there are some stylish directorial touches with solid work from Willis, Jackson, and an absolutely breathtaking musical score by James Newton Howard. It's a wild ride, but it's worth a look.