I am – Hercules!!

M. Night Shyamalan is a divider, not a uniter. There aren’t a lot of filmmakers as divisive as this guy.

I love the writer-director's “Unbreakable” and “Signs” almost as much as I love his “The Sixth Sense.” Flawed though the later projects may be, I've long thought them two of the most relentlessly entertaining character-driven movies ever engineered. When I stumble across one of them on HBO or ABC I have entirely too much difficulty tuning out before the credits roll.

I predict that those who share my love for both “Unbreakable” and “Signs” will share my love for “The Village.” Otherwise, all bets are off.

For the dozen or so Ain’t It Cool readers who haven’t heard, Shyamalan’s “The Village” depicts a small rural community long segregated from the rest of the world by its fear of a shadowy and otherworldly presence that has taken to dwelling in the surrounding woods.

To deflect the most burning question attending this project, I will say that too much is made generally of Shyamalan's penchant for Serlingesque finales. I harbored suspicions about where the story was headed, but I certainly didn’t guess every plot point, and I certainly couldn’t predict the intricacies of the film’s characterization, comic dialogue, narrative invention and wiggens-worthiness.

There are problems. In retrospect, “The Village” contains some of the worst flaws of logic Shyamalan has ever ventured. (Wouldn’t it make far far far more sense for Willam Hurt’s character to ultimately brave the woods instead of his blind daughter?)

But by the same token I would never consider not recommending "The Village." Its lead characters are enormously likeable and compelling, and every scene left me anxious to learn what would happen next. The sureness of Shyamalan’s manipulations and attention to detail suggest he still brings to his storytelling an unusual quantity of intellectual investment.

And while “Village” is enormously effective at thoroughly creeping out its audience (when the action moves to the deep woods, my date, all 112 pounds of her, gripped my left arm long enough and hard enough to effectively put it to sleep), what remains with me days later is how much I enjoyed the evolution of the love story at the center of the enterprise, which morphs the movie from a great dark romantic comedy to a great dark romantic drama to a plenty gripping adventure-thriller.

At the end of the day, I suspect even Shyamalan’s worst detractors will have difficulty saying “The Village” is devoid of virtues.

Herc’s rating for “The Village”:

****

The Hercules T. Strong Rating System:
***** better than any of us deserve
**** enormously entertaining
*** actually worth your valuable time
** as horrible as most stuff on TV
* makes you quietly pray for a fire

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