Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

Unbreakable (2000)

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Average user rating
2 reviews

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 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

User reviews of this film

  • Mogey Pooo said...
    Posted on Dec 03 2007 09:19 I think his film is the worst film i have evr possiibly witnessed in my whole intire life!
    It should banned frm showing on televison .
    I agree with Mrs. Mc.Man :)
    Report as inappropriate
  • Mac.Man said...
    Posted on Dec 03 2007 09:17 Oh hello , my name is Mrs Mc.Man
    I luve in Wales. I have watched the film many of times , but still can not understand why it is so god dam shit!
    Report as inappropriate

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.