Signs Review Country : USA Year: 2002 Genre: Suspense/Sci-Fi Format: Theatre Running Time: 106 minutes Distributor: Touchstone Pictures Mysterious crop circles vex a rural family, including a former priest who has lost his faith in God..... Credits Written and Directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Starring Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones and Patricia Kalember. The ads for M. Night Shyamalan's new feature Signs misrepresent it somewhat, making the film seem like a ghost story by way of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. While those elements, along with refreshing variations on Poltergeist, The Blair Witch Project, War Of The Worlds and even E.T. The Extraterrestrial are present, the heart of this movie is firmly grounded in human drama. But it's human drama done the Shyamalan way, mind you. Shyamalan, for the unititiated, was deservedly crowned Hollywood's new wunderkind after his accomplished 1999 writing/directing debut The Sixth Sense. His follow-up film, last year's Unbreakable, seemed to cement his penchant for crafting supernatural-tinged storylines which culminate in a devastating twist ending--causing the viewer to mentally re-play the story's preceeding events and evaluate the clues that could have predicted the twist. It worked both times before, and Shyamalan wisely underplays the tactic this time, lest it become stale. Without preamble, Signs hits the ground sprinting with a screen-smart opening title sequence, vaguely reminiscent of Psycho because of James Newton Howard's positively Herrmann-esque pusle. The center of the story is a Pennsylvania farmer named Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), a former reverend who has lost his faith after the recent death of his wife (Patricia Kalember), who was accidentally struck by a car. He lives with his two children, Morgan (Rory Culkin) and Bo (Abigail Breslin), in a big and cheerless farmhouse surrounded by acres and acres of cornstalks. Graham's younger brother Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix) has also moved in to assist with daily household duties and raising the now-motherless children. The family shares its own idiosynchrasies--lapsed reverend Graham won't pray, yet he also won't cuss; Bo is superstitious about the drinking quality of tap water; Merrill is a former little leage baseball hero with a flawed delivery; and Morgan is asthmatic. Meanwhile, a local female constable (Cherry Jones) supplies a human connection to the rest of civilization, while Shyamalan himself turns up in a creepily effective cameo as a local veterinarian with a very personal tie with the family. Once strange noises in the cornfield give revelation to the "crop circles" possibly created by UFO's, the film takes on fitfully ominous dimensions. Is it an elaborate hoax created by local pranksters? If so, are these pranksters also the same beings running around the cornfield at night, occasionally tap-dancing on the farmhouse roof? And what about these televised reports of the "crop circle" phenomena turning up across the globe? A worldwide prank, perhaps? That's what the stubborn Graham tries to tell himself and his next-of-kin, who are now receiving some kind of communication signal broadcast over a baby monitor. As the story uncoils, it becomes apparent that it's not a case of "what" but of "why." The nature of these supernatural events is revealed to the audience gradually, but how the Hess family plays into the scheme becomes the focus of the second act. While the film offers no surprise twist ending, its resolution does utilize the well-conceived explanation of several obvious "this-must-be-a-clue" bits that the seasoned Shyamalan fan will have picked up on early in the film. And the long tradition of "hide the monster" is respectfully honored here, with the form of the nemesis kept in the shadows until the appropriate time--no elaborate CGI bonanza here, just a decently-rendered and sensibly-presented adversary. Whatever else, the acting in Signs is top-notch. Gibson is at the top of his form as the grieved regular Joe trying to make his way for his family, while Phoenix is perfect as the low-key sibling with a quietly fierce devotion to his older bro. It's the kids, though, who really shine, most notably Breslin, who flat-out steals the show. And Culkin, most recently seen in the sleeper hit You Can Count On Me, remains one of the best child actors on the current scene. With Signs, you're not going to get a thrill-a-second scare ride, despite what the ads and blurbs tell you. You will be entertained, though. Many scenes are wonderfully creepy, and the writer/director is a natural storyteller, even if some of the exposition comes in a forced manner. You'll even jump a time or two. And yes, you'll still mentally go back over the movie once it's ended, to evaluate any foreshadowing that would anticipate the (albeit non-twist) conclusion. Just like Mr. Shyamalan wants you to. OFFICIAL SITE Review by Petch Lucas, for Pitofhorror.com