Lady In The Water Reviews

WASTE OF TIME

No plot, no decent actors, no nothing, what a waste of a sunday afternoon. I wish we had thrown this dvd in the water....

Surprised

This film was smashed by critics, as was the director, Night.

Which I think is a shame because I think this film is better than better! It shows its characters with a Roald Dahl like honesty that took my breath away, from the sky bearded caretaker to the man who exercises only one part of his body.

Once again the show is stolen by the actress in this film who acted in not only this but Night's 'the village.' she is spooky, beautiful and totally believable. So I suggest that EVERYONE gives this film a chance, and just maybe you'll be surprised.

Awful!

I watched this movie last night--I had been eagerly awaiting its arrival, because I'd wanted to see it in the cinema, but hadn't managed to do so. I liked M. Night's The Village--even though others I knew didn't like it at all. I went into this movie open-minded--and it was terrible--just terrible! The plot is totally ridiculous--let me add ludicrous to that as well. The actors turn in sparkling non-performances. I saw Giamatti in Sideways and thought he was good--but here? Hang your head in shame, Paul! Bryce Howard's performance consists of staring blankly at the camera. Even the names of the other-worldly characters--narfs and scunts--are absurd. Bryce Howard is the Queen Narf in case you were aching to know. The idea that the supposedly normal people the actors portray would go along with the maniacal ideas put forth by Giamatti's character in this destroys even the tiniest hint of plausability. Two other people who watched this with me thought that it was possibly one of the 10 worst movies they have ever seen--and believe me, they have seen A LOT of them!! This movie fails on every level--you'll bitterly wish that you had the two wasted hours of your life watching this back!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Unusual, but really nice

I really enjoyed this movie, it is more or less a fairy tale for adults and has a really weirdly floaty feel about it, but that just added to its charm. A really well played 'different' movie that I warmed to right from the first scene. I cannot really see why it was panned by so many, there doesn't seem to be much wrong with this at all, I would recommend it as a really nice film to sit and watch, I'm glad I bothered renting it anyway.

I have that sinking feeling

This is a modern day fairytale about a folklore being coming back to the present day to warn people about how they should behave. For me this was a very confusing tale, not because of what was going on, cause that was straight forward, but because of the simple question Y would anything wanna come back and warn us and Y not the President of America, or the Prime Minister, Y a bunch of people in an apartment complex, who would be more at home sitting in front of a computer writing reviews for films. Also, the title should really be called 'Lady from the water', as most of the time she wasn't 'in the water' like it says. Anyway, for me this wasn't brilliant, just basic, lazy storytelling.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Keeps its head above water

Lady in the Water written, produced and Directed by M Night Shyamalan has a very intriguing story. As usual with Shyamalan's films it is extremely well shot with some very atmospheric scenes and the music by James Newton Howard (Sixth Sense) really adds to the suspence. The film never ventures once outside the appartments given a sense of being part of the small community within the building. The story itself is not as strong as Shyamalan's other efforts and its a shame because the characters are strong and the acting likewise. It is worth hiring but not one that you will be talking about weeks after.

Truly terrible

I have just sat through this truly terrible film and frankly someone somewhere owes me 110 mins. I used to like M.Night Shyalaman but he really went off the rails with this one. I kept thinking that maybe it was a spoof and I should be laughing and not crying at the sheer awfulness of it.

To call this pretentious tosh an adult fairytale is a joke - if you want an adult fairytale please rent Pan's Labryinth which has everything that this film lacks. The dialogue is frankly embarrassing and Paul Giamatti needs to be forced to consume vatloads of the branded Californian wine that he so despised in Sideways as a punishment for going anywhere near this script. Where are the twists of The Sixth Sense and where is the sense of menace that pervaded The Village.

You just dont care about the mermaid / narf / whatever because there is no convincing explanation of what she came to tell us all that is so important. All she has to do is get back and honestly the sooner the better. Everything about this film is wooden. Let us just hope that M.Night returns to something approaching his best next time around otherwise I reckon his career will soon be over.

This is a perfect movie....

This is a perfect movie if you like to let your imagination run away with you.

It's a fantasy film you could imagine happening where you actually live.

It's unpredictable and does not run to any particular formula, you really do feel like you are there and participating.

The film works on lost of levels but doesn't ram any theme down your throat and keeps a relatively lite touch.

Enjoy this film, good for adults, kids anyone.

Top notch moving picture.

We don't understand why this has such low ratings...

Lady in the Water suceeds in being both a fairy tale and making a theme out of 'what happens in a standard movie'. Suspenseful and charming, with superb acting. Paul Giamatti pulls off a truly gymnastic range of facial expressions and stutters in a performance which conveys irony, pathos and hope. It's also original for it's mixture of creepy depth-of-field camerawork (reminiscent of the Japanese original of 'Dark Water') with an uplifting theme.

Outstanding

Wonderful performances (Giamatti rules), wonderful story, this is a movie you won't forget.

All negative reviews probably come from people who went to see it expecting Friday the 13th Part 11...