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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! |
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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.
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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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