Lady in the Water

Lady in the Water
Screenplay by M. Night Shyamalan.
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Burbank, CA: Warner Home Video, c2006.

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Starring:
• Paul Giamatti
• Bob Balaban
• Sarita Choudhury
• Jeffrey Wright
• Freddy Rodriguez
• Bryce Dallas Howard
• Jared Harris

A building super tries to rescue a woman from the pool he maintains. However he knocks himself unconscious and when he comes to, there's a semi-naked woman in his apartment...He notices that somehow she causes him to not stutter. One of the tenants tells him an an ancient Asian fable that he links to his mysterious guest. She is a 'narf' from the Blue World. She must accomplish her mission and then return home. She is fated to meet one person who will then change the world. Mission accomplished but then the return journey is aborted. More details of the fable emerge that complicate things. She is a very special 'narf' so her enemies are very determined. The super must recruit archetypal helpers (healer, guild, translator) to ensure her safe return.

My opinion. This movie was not what I expected. I thought it was going to be a scary horror film but it only had a few jumpy bits. This made me glad! (He even made it into a children's book.) Overall, the movie was slow but interesting. The creature design was pretty good. I was kinda suprised how large a part Shyamalan played compared to his previous movies. It was somewhat predictable but I enjoyed the growing community of the apartment complex which is greatly lacking in most urban centres. Thanks to the research for the review, I only just realized Shyamalan also wrote and directed Unbreakable!