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Signs
M. Night Shyamalan follows his success with Sixth Sense and Unbreakable with this summer's newest hit, Signs. Mel Gibson stars as Graham Hess, a man struggling with his spiritual faith after the death of his wife, as he tries to piece together the meaning of the appearance of crop circles on his farm. His brother Merrill Hess (Joaquin Phoenix), a retired minor league baseball player, offers advice and comfort as the circles bring an uncertain future.
Signs didn't waste time with back story or beginning filler footage, within 10 minutes the story dropped you into the plot, as M. Night skillfully filled in the blanks as the movie progressed. Each character offered their own flavor and essence to the movie, while finally converging at the end having you realizing that M. Night has a reason for his odd ways. The flash backs worked, and did not interfere with the overall flow of the film or the story.
The main issue I had with this movie is that it became preachy. Preachy for the sake of religion. What the movie came down to was the impact these crop circles, and ensuing aliens, had on Mel Gibson's character, a retired reverend. The idea fell to one side as the movie concentrated on Gibson’s thoughts and outlook on life while trying to protect his family.
"Signs" as the title goes, did not reflect the signs as being the crop circles. The signs, referred to the signals, the messages the circles and invasion created for Gibson's character. The signs of how he would direct his life, how he would interpret what transpired around him, and most importantly, how is effected his family.
Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin play Mel's children. Rory is a spitting image of his older brother. And little Abigail, in this reviewer's humble opinion, stole the show! Watch for her, and remember to laugh.
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