Don't be afraid to feel it

Shyamalan is absolutely masterful at creating mood, evoking atmosphere. He doesn't so much make a movie, he casts a spell. Lady In The Water does that brilliantly - it casts an intense, palpable spell, from the clever little prologue, all the way through to the closing credits. Each of his cinematic trips thus far have done this - they create a total reality of their own, and you either let yourself be part of it by accepting it one hundred percent, or you don't.

Lady In The Water once again creates its own reality, in spades. Sure, the plot can be construed as ridiculous, unsubtle, absurd. But that's only if you're on the outside, looking in. If you allow yourself, on the other hand, to surrender to the vision, you will have a thoroughly different experience, as I did.

The most wonderful thing about this experience is Shyamalan's magnificent casting choice of Paul Giamatti, in the lead role of Cleveland Heep. If you're not one of those who has caught on by now that Giamatti is probably the most brilliant American actor working today, perhaps this movie will convince you. His performance here is breath-taking. There's a scene quite near the end =-= SPOILER ALERT -=- where Giamatti's character has to finally deal with something horrible that happened in his life, to his loved ones, and the way he plays the scene breaks your heart - you can truly feel his anguish, what he's kept pent up inside for so long; the truth of what Giamatti as an actor manages to convey in this scene is transcendent and extraordinary, one of the purest scenes of raw emotion ever committed to celluloid. For this scene alone, I would beg you to surrender yourself to this film.