Lady In The Water

Into another of M. Night Shyamalan's all-American idylls enters a mysterious presence, or to go by building manager Paul Giamatti's eerie portent of doom, "I hear splashing some nights…" Unfortunately Hollywood is better when doing a "stranger in their midst" than a "beastie in the woods" and so, by the second act, the plot takes on the particular paradox of this director and starts handing out surprises like sweeties. As a couple of hours of nonsense go, it looks nice and the pace is sufficient to hold the attention, but ultimately the film does nothing to resuscitate the reputation of a one time "next big thing." True fans of Shyamalan may find this enjoyable but I suspect that by now there are few of those left. The two leads give it their best but are drowning in an auteur's ego as the script wastes another chance to really get beneath the surface of some of America's fears. [Caroline Hurley]