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List Price: $12.98 | | Label: Warner Bros. Pictures
Salesrank: 4202
Released: December 19, 2006 |
| Our Price: $4.04 |
| Used Price: $1.22 |
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MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.Running Time: 109 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA UPC: 012569763753 Manufacturer No: 76375
Description of Lady in the Water (Widescreen Edition):
Or, if you prefer, I See Wet People. M. Night Shyamalan's attempt at a newfangled mythology--about a depressed apartment superintendent (Paul Giamatti) who discovers a sea-nymph (Bryce Dallas Howard) who may hold the key to humanity's hopeful future--is intriguing enough to capture the imaginations of children and adults who haven't lost sight of their innocent sense of wonder. Cynics, on the other hand, will likely scoff at Shyamalan's awkward fantasy, which includes one victim--a film critic--widely interpreted as Shyamalan's revenge against reviewers who panned The Village. Shyamalan originally improvised this melancholy fantasy as a bedtime story for his children; unfortunately, it still feels mostly half-baked and ultimately ineffective due to a number of plot holes and inconsistencies that a writer as talented as Shyamalan should've been able to avoid. For those wishing to learn more about the film's troubled history, and Shyamalan's petulant split from Disney studios, The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale is an interesting read. --Jeff Shannon
Lady in the Water (Widescreen Edition) Reviews:
Hope From the Blue World 
2008-10-10 - Finally a M. Night Shyamalan movie that I really loved. His movies are always beyond normal reasoning, always full of fear and the unnatural. Lady in the Water was about love and deep inner understanding, and finding in ourselves, something that has long been forgotten in human nature. This was a movie of hope, and the forthcoming of leadership that will bring the world into hope. I truly enjoyed this movie which was full of characters and the longest in scene with the director playing a major part.
Another good movie by Shyamalan
2008-10-04 - I've enjoyed most of Night Shyamalan's movies and this is no exception. The movie has feeling and hope which you don't get in many movies these days.
Paul Giamatti does an above average job, as he often does. Playing the role of someone just trying to get by and do the right thing, even under extreme diversity, seems to be his cup of tea.
Really? 
2008-08-31 - I really really tried to sit through this movie i just could not i like M shaymalans movies but this one was just a train reck. The acting was poor the script was poor i felt like i was sitting in silence for over half the movie brokenm up by broken soft spoken dialouge. I think the movie was a good story just poorly executed. i would say skip this if you can and go rent a good movie.
Good Effort, But Could Have Been Better 
2008-08-26 - I enjoyed Lady In The Water for what it was - a fairy tale. The directing, tone, and score were what I liked most, as usual with M. Night Shyamalan's work. I was impressed at Paul Giamatti's performance. He was funny at times, and especially moving during the climax at the end of the film. I was also impressed by Shyamalan's performance. I don't know why he was so criticized for his acting. He did fine from where I was sitting.
The main thing I would change in Lady is the way the story is told. The story itself is a little too complex, and having the Asian girl tell it in several chunks made it even harder to follow. I would have simplified the story, and would have found a way to tell it all at once. A simple change like that would have made it more concise and enjoyable to watch.
As an M. Night fan I would say that this is one of my less favorites, although still good and worth seeing or owning. Shyamalan may be the most misunderstood writer/director of the last decade. With the exception of The Sixth Sense, all his movies have opened to mixed reviews, and have been largely unappreciated.
Uniquely Beautiful 
2008-07-27 - Beautiful. Poetic. Humorous, and a bit scary, too (just enough - don't worry, you can watch it alone.)
UNIQUE.
50 years from now, when the rest of the idiotic movies being produced today are forgotten, M. Night Shyamalan's works are going to be hailed as inventive, creative, and classic, the way Orson Welles' "Citizen Kane" is seen today.
"Lady In The Water" even pokes fun at the predictability of other films while beguiling the viewer with its own surprising twists and turns.
I thought "The Village" was wonderful, and I thoroughly enjoyed this film as well. It is sweet and haunting and thought-provoking. I was cautious about purchasing it due to some negative reviews... but now I intend to purchase Shyamalan's other works immediately.
It's lovely. Ignore the critics.
