Unbreakable (2000)
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Following The Sixth Sense was always going to be a nightmare for writer/director Shyamalan, even with Willis and Jackson on board. Yet this study of comic-book heroism and human destiny challenges rather than meets the audience's expectations. The miraculous sole survivor of a train crash, Philadelphia security guard David Dunn (Willis) is told by Elijah Price (Jackson) - a dealer in comic-book art with a fertile imagination and brittle bones - that he is 'unbreakable'. Like indestructible comic-book heroes, David has been put on Earth to vanquish evil. The movie then swerves into deeper, murkier territory, as the bewildered David ponders the cosmic consequences of this knowledge. Is this crazy, Biblical soothsayer right? If so, does he have a responsibility to develop and use his super-powers? Whereas The Sixth Sense left audiences surprised but surprisingly comfortable, this more mature and ambitious movie preserves its ambiguities and keeps everyone guessing. As David's wife Audrey, Wright Penn is mostly sidelined, although a brief exchange about their shaky marriage provides the film's most compelling emotional moment. If anything, the near somnambulant Willis is a little too restrained, as if to counter-balance Jackson's flamboyant, mesmerising portrayal of the mysterious stranger Elijah.Author: NF
Cast & crew
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Producer: M Night Shyamalan, Barry Mendel, Sam Mercer
Cast: Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, Spencer Treat Clark, Charlayne Woodard, Eamonn Walker, Leslie Stefanson full cast
Duration: 107 mins
Most popular on this site
Features
Gray's anatomy
James Gray wants to push buttons—again.
The next big thing?
Gigantic Releasing tries to rethink indie distribution…without movie theaters.
Red Diva: Lyubov Orlova, First Lady of Soviet Cinema
So you think you can dance, comrade?
Puppet master
Coraline director Henry Selick takes stop-motion animation into 3-D.
Socratic method
Laurent Cantet's approach on the set matches the message of his film.
Wander woman
Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy puts a Bush-era spin on the road movie.
Oscars
Read our interviews with the nominees, our reviews of the nominated films and more.



What do you think?
Post your review now