SIGNS
Cast:
Mel Gibson,
Joaquin Phoenix,
Rory Culkin,
Abigail Breslin,
Cherry Jones.
Director:
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.

Of the numerous sci-fi movies made about aliens, none have managed to go straight to the heart of the matter to focus on the underlying response of humans to the concept of unknown life-forms, which is fear.

M. Night Shyamalan who knocked down audiences with The Sixth Sense, reinvents his magic again in this dark thriller which is based on real emotions in unreal circumstances where down-to-
earth characters face the threat of harm.

The film is a thoroughly engaging story about fear and faith, which also happens to be a first-class hair-raiser from a moviemaker who resonates a little of Hitchcock.

At the center of the story is Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), a farmer and former pastor who walked away from the church after his wife was killed in a car accident. He shares his home with his young children, Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin), and his brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), an ex-minor-league ballplayer.

When an elaborate crop circle shows up in the cornfield outside his house, Graham assumes it is the work of local troublemakers. But when reports pour in from around the world of similar signs appearing overnight, it turns out the nuts were right: The signs are alien navigation aids. The war with the aliens intrudes slowly, by terrifying subtle increments, on the Hess household. Mr. Shyamalan winds up the tension up to almost unbearable peaks as he drives Graham into a battle for his family and his suppressed faith.

The movie wisely stays pinned to the events in and around the
Hess household. A sympathetic sheriff (Cherry Jones) helps define the setting; so does a steady if sketchy stream of television reports that run mostly in the background. The director also cast himself in a significant supporting role, and
turns in a respectable performance.

Graham's crisis is predictable and not as deeply explored as it might have been. However, on the way to a terrifying climax, Mr. Shyamalan lets his characters think, feel and speak in ways we rarely see in monster movies. As a filmmaker, he is far more interested in the monsters we wrestle in our own hearts than in imaginary beasts from distant worlds.

That's not to say he gives short srift to the bad guys; his alien threat is rarely glimpsed until the final act.

As always, Mr. Shyamalan fills his crew with top-rate talent, including the brilliant cinematographer Tak Fujimoto, whose ability to balance light and shadow to achieve the most profound effect is unequaled. Likewise, the vivid yet restrained score by James Newton Howard frames the action with an uncanny mixture of grace and suspense.

All their high-grade work pays off with a ripping good yarn and a good, old-fashioned pulse-pounding scary movie.