Lady in the Water
Lady in the Water ★★ 2006 (PG-13)
Another Shyamalan vehicle full of darkness, mysterious creatures that go bump in the night, and himself (literally and figuratively). This attempt at a modern-day Brothers Grimm fable follows Cleveland Heep (Giamatti), the gloomy superintendent of a gloomy Philadelphia apartment complex, who discovers a translucent creature (Howard) skinny-dipping in the apartment pool after hours. He tries to rescue the nymph (or “narf” in Shymalan's unoriginal world), the apartment's residents, and himself from a variety of evil forces, only some of which are actually shown. More of the same heavy-handed symbolism and convoluted storyline that passed for plot twists in his earlier work. Shyamalan wrote, directed, and, as always, gave himself a role in this fairy tale, which he states is based on a bedtime story he made up for his daughters. 108m/C DVD, Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD . US Bryce Dallas Howard, Paul Giamatti, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban, Freddy Rodriguez, Sarita Choudhury, Jared Harris, Bill Irwin, Mary Beth Hurt, Tovah Feldshuh, M. Night Shyamalan, Cindy Cheung, Noah Gray-Cabey; D: M. Night Shyamalan; W: M. Night Shyamalan; C: Christopher Doyle; M: James Newton Howard; Nar: David Ogden Stiers. Golden Raspberries '06: Worst Actor (Shyamalan), Worst Director (Shyamalan).