A sensory experience

"The Sixth Sense"

Starring Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Haley Joel Osment, Olivia Williams

107 minutes

Rated  PG13

1999

[MARCH 31, 2000]  I must admit that I watched this film against my will. It was one of those movies on my "don’t watch" list. I had seen enough previews of it that I was convinced I didn’t want to see a movie about a tormented little boy who sees dead people. I was going to avoid it, and then my significant other decided that we were going to watch it together. Well, that settled that!

The previews are a chump setup. You are led to believe that Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a celebrated child therapist, will be the hero. And you are led to believe that the victim is a young boy named Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment). He claims to see dead people walking around. Dr. Crowe confronts the child’s demons, chases away the ghosts and everybody lives happily ever after. It’s just another spooky movie, right? That isn’t the plot at all.

This thriller opens with Anna Crowe (Olivia Williams) attempting to have a celebratory moment with her husband. It seems that the mayor of fair Philadelphia has recently recognized him as being highly successful in treating disturbed children. Dr. Crowe resists the moment and the fame. Drunk on the moment and drunk on a little too much wine, they stumble upstairs toward the bedroom, where they are jolted to reality by a broken window and the presence of someone in their bathroom. A former patient had broken in, and in a perfect scene, reminds Dr. Crowe that he wasn’t successful with all of his patients. He shoots Dr. Crowe in the stomach before taking his own life. The scene is set. Fade stage right.

 


[Haley Joel Osment and Bruce Willis]

 

The following fall, Dr. Crowe begins treating another highly disturbed child, Cole Sear. Cole reminds Dr. Crowe of his failed patient in a very haunting way. Dr. Crowe works to deepen the relationship with Cole, to reach that point of trust when Cole would share his secret. And that is where the introduction leaves off.

 

 

 

It is at this point in the movie that I began to take real interest. In this film we have one of the greatest action-movie actors of the screen, the venerable Bruce Willis, and he is playing a much different character than I have ever seen or believed him capable of. Willis was warm, depressed, soft, disabled, disarmed, compassionate and all the other things I thought were out of the picture for this shoot-'em-up, hard-guy actor. And he makes it incredibly believable.The reality of this film: Cole Sear does see dead people. One of the keys to the plot is that these dead people don’t know they’re dead. Admittedly, there’s a genuine amount of fright in this movie, and usually this type of film would leave me with nightmares for the next week (the reason I usually avoid them). But at the end there is good resolution, and the unique gift of a big twist in the plot (e-mail me if the twist at the end fooled you too).

Cole Sear is really the hero in this film, a tremendously convincing actor in a difficult role. I really enjoyed Cole’s relationship with his mother (played by Toni Collette). You might even have to hand the Kleenex box to your husband.

This movie deals with death and could be the kind of film that would cause your young preteens to have nightmares. I recommend you talk about the film and its conclusions with your children afterwards.

I recommend this film, commend my significant other for getting it, and give it 4 stars out of 5.

midge@lincolndailynews.com 

 

 

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