The Village (2004)

:=8I

Whatever you do...DON'T go in the woods!! Why?? Because..there are GIANT TOOTHY HEDGEHOG MONSTERS IN RED CAPES out there!!!!

Heh???

I imagine this is sort of how M. Night Shyamalan first pitched his high concept moovie idea for The Village to the suits at Touchstone Pictures. The fervent, mysterious director is so far responsible for 1 excellent flick (Sixth Sense), and a couple of boring stinkers (Unbreakable, Signs) - in talent-strapped Hollywood, this passes for clout.
Once the look dazed confusion set on their faces, I can see M. Night recovering himself quickly by adding:

"Ok, but, not all is as it seems. 'Cause, there's this rich guy, and a group of bitter Baby Boomers who hate the city, and a cute red-head girl whose feral brother lusts for her, and a bland guy who doesn't talk much but writes things down so other people can read it for him, and they all live in the woods without electricity or running water, surrounded by the evil giant hedgehogs who want to eat them EXCEPT...they really aren't".

Heh????

"Look, just gimme the money, I made Sixth Sense, didn't I? And I'm writing the thing, so you won't have to pay a proper writer for composing the script. And I can get some of my buddies from previous films to help out".

Bruce Willis, the suits ask hopefully?

"Well, no, Bruce is busy being drunk in a South Jersey bar. I got the Gladiator guy!"

Russell Crowe!?!

Ummm, no, the other one, Joaquin Phoenix, you know, from Signs.

Never saw it. Ok, whatever, just go make us some money.

Ok, maybe that scene was a touch cynical, even for the crusty old MooCow - thing is, The Village is actually an ok moovie that suffers from a delusional script. Had an actual writer written the script there probably wouldn't have been so many story holes, painfully obvious plot devices, and arch dialogue, all of which, I am sure, are part of M. Night Shyamalan's "vision". This is a perfect example of there an-udder set of eyes would have focused that vision.

The story centers around this group of Amish-like country folk, living in a picturesque village some unspecified part of the country, at some unspecified time in history. Right away you have the sense something is wrong because these sturdy farm-folk talk strangely, have forbidden colors, and are frightened of...something in the woods: Those We Do Not Speak Of. We, the audience, don't know what they are, because they won't speak about them.

Among the villagers are Lucius(Joaquin Phoenix, Gladiator), an introverted young man who...well, its never very clear just what it is he does all day long; Alice(Sigourney Weaver, Alien) is his repressed mother with secrets; Ivy(Bryce Dallas Howard) is a cute, spunky, blind red-head(who looks disturbingly like a hot Opie with breasts) who loves him; Noah(Adrian Brody, The Pianist), her crooning, blubbering, spiting retarded brother; and Edward Walker (William Hurt, The Accidental Tourist), father to Ivy and Noah and clan leader of the village elders. Also hanging around looking solemn are Brendan Gleeson(The General) , Cherry Jones(The Perfect Storm), and Michael Pitt (Bully).

Because there is a rather obvious plot "surprise", the MooCow won't go into the actual story details, such as they are, but suffice to say this Mulligan's Stew of a cast gets to fumble through M. Night's plot holes and spout M. Night's insufferable dialogue, trying to find "the truth".

The truth is the cast of actors does remarkably well with the material given them: Hurt and Howard in particular give very convincing performances. For Bryce Dallas Howard, daughter of director and Happy Days alumni Ron Howard, The Village represents her coming-out party. Her perfomance is energetic and convincing, and she represents a warm spot in a rather cold, funereal film. The udder actors also register, although moore film time for Sigourney Weaver and Brendan Gleeson would have been an improvement.

Technically, the moovie was well-made(this cow never noticed the boom-mike snafus that udder moovie go-ers report seeing, so that cud have been a bad print) on the whole. Shyamalan gives the film an appropriate dark and forbidding tone, and the cinemaphotography capturing the lush Montgomery County countryside is lovely. He adds a nice twist by (seemingly) killing off one of the main characters (Lucius) midway through the film, and allowing one of the supporting characters (Ivy) carry moost of the final half of the film, including the "shockingly revealed truth". But Shyamalan relies exlusively on old-hat tricks to try to scare the audience, using sudden loud music cues to telegraph when something frightening is going to happen. He also seems rather lazy, relying too much on the audience's suspension of belief rather than crafting a story which goes deeper into WHY the audience is willing to be convinced. Sixth Sense did that sort of thing in much moore subtle, cleverer ways than The Village. You may still get scared, but only if you are willing to forgive a lot of contrivances.

Overall, The Village is an okay moovie, slightly disappointing, perhaps, but still better than the standard Bruckheimer-esque mindless escapism which has dug its filthy claws deep into Hollybore these days. If nothing else, enjoy the film's sense of brooding dread, Bryce Dallas Drew's perky performance, and....umm... watch out for giant evil hedgehogs in red capes.

;=8)