Top Ten Tuesday: M. Night Shyamalan Movie Characters

M. Night Shyamalan is a filmmaker who has not only conjured up a breed of filmmaking all his own, but a breed of controversy and debate amongst movie geeks matched only that of Joel Schumacher and Brett Ratner. Shyamalan has his fans and his nay-sayers, but in this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, we’ve decided to focus on what we like about the boy fascinated by film who became a man realizing his dreams.

With the opening of Shyamalan’s newest film, THE LAST AIRBENDER, we took a look back to determine our favorite characters created by M. Night Shyamalan.

Honorable Mention: STUART LITTLE

STUART LITTLE is a movie Shyamalan is rarely remembered for, but as a kid’s flick, it was quite enjoyable both for children and adults that may get stuck watching it with them. For that matter, its not a half bad movie to watch as an adult just for fun… as a way to escape in a light-hearted humorous way. Now, the tiny talking mouse Stuart Little may not have only been written by M. Night – the film was directed by Rob Minkoff – but he’s got a big personality. Voiced by Michael J. Fox, the little white, furry dude has a subtle streak of Ferris Bueller in him, combined with the smart and funny writing, the character provides a family-friendly character that’s entertaining and not dumbed down.

10. Merril Hess (Joaquin Phoenix) in SIGNS

SIGNS is another example of Shyamalan’s motto: “There are no coincidences.” Since leaving his former life as a record-setting baseball player, Merrill Hess has been staying with his recently widowed brother Graham and his family. “It felt wrong not to swing,” he says of being let go by the team and has been wandering aimlessly through life until crop circles appear in the fields of their Pennsylvania farm. After the beginning of an apparent alien invasion, Merrill truly believes that they will not be harmed by these hand-over-your-mouth scary events because a higher power will take care of them in the end. Joaquin Phoenix’s dramatic facial expression during SIGNS are what give the film its human quality and amusingly helps turn down the stress level. In one of the funnier parts of the movie, Graham discovers that his son and daughter, along with Merrill, have fashioned goofy, cone-head hats out of tin-foil to protect them against alien mind probing. In the thrilling finale to SIGNS, Merrill realizes that his inner passion with a baseball bat was warranted when he’s told by Graham to “swing away” at the alien whose invaded their living room and is holding one of the kids hostage. It’s a battle for the ages. This mantra of “Everything happens for a reason” was the underlying theme throughout SIGNS making Merrill Hess the embodiment of Night’s running idea.

09. Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg) in THE HAPPENING

THE HAPPENING is easily the worst movie I’ve seen in the past decade and I mean that as high praise. It’s the type of delirious masterpiece where every star aligned to form the perfect terrible movie and I can’t get enough of it. Shyamalan claimed (after the nasty reviews started pouring in) that Mark Wahlberg’s overly mannered performance was a deliberate throwback to the B-movies movies of yesteryear; to everyone else it just felt like bad acting. I wish I could have been on the set when M Night directed Marky Mark singing The Doobie Brother ‘Black Water’ through a door to show that he was normal (!). And as for Walhberg’s scene talking to a plastic houseplant: “Hello? My name is Elliot Moore. Just want to talk in a very positive manner, giving off good vibes. We’re just here to use the bathroom, and then we’re just going to leave. I hope that’s OK.” – God save us! THE HAPPENING rules!

08. Rev. Graham Hess (Mel Gibson) in SIGNS

Reverend Graham Hess… What a fitting role for everyone’s favorite controversial Aussie actor, Mel Gibson. The “man of the cloth” has his doubts, but that’s not gonna stop him from protecting his family from whatever mysterious, lurking danger awaits them outside their home. Terrorized by unknown intruders on their family farm, Graham Hess struggles to protect his family as he toils internally with his faith and what “it” all means. What’s outside? Where’d “they” come from? Do the events that unfold in Shyamalan’s SIGNS have a greater meaning, a double entendre of science and religion? Gibson’s performance is riveting, as much as it is thought-provoking and even a bit humorous at times, despite the subject matter. As always, audiences were split 50/50 with SIGNS, but one thing Shyamalan always does is offer viewers an array of interesting characters full of quirks and conundrums.

07. Reggie (Freddy Rodriguez) in LADY IN THE WATER

Freddy Rodriguez plays Reggie in Shyamalan’s under-appreciated, fairy tale LADY IN THE WATER. He’s just another unassuming tenant at the apartment complex, ‘The Cove,’ introduced to the audience by custodian Mr. Heep. Reggie’s a guy whose strict regimen consists of an science experiment of working on only the right side of his body. He proudly claims, “there’s is a 4 1/2 inch difference” between his left and right biceps. Reggie’s harmless and, like so many others, simply wants to find his special place in the universe and boy does he ever when he unexpectedly finds himself “The Guardian” of Story, the lady in the water. Unaware of it at the time, there’s a hidden reason for all that working out that wouldn’t be realized until the exciting climax of the film. James Newton Howard’s rousing score adds to Reggie’s edge-of-your-seat mano y mano battle with LITW’s nemesis, the “scrunt,” and helps him to protect and save the Narf. Turns out his daily idiosyncracy was no coincidence and makes Reggie one of Night’s most relatable characters.

06. Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) in THE SIXTH SENSE

In 1999 M. Night Shyamalan coaxed from Bruce Willis one of his very best performances in THE SIXTH SENSE. Willis played Malcolm Crowe, a child psychiatrist who’s lost faith in his talents due to a failure to help a long-ago patient. Willis was (and still is) primarily a physical actor and he at first seemed miscast in the role, but he let the child star, Haley Joel Osment, play off his quiet charisma in a way a more emotive actor couldn’t and the result was perfection.  When Shyamalan made the cover of Newsweek magazine in 2002, underneath his picture the caption read; “The Next Spielberg”. Several creatively questionable films later, that caption could not be further from the truth, but at least we’ll always have THE SIXTH SENSE.

05. Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) in THE SIXTH SENSE

Cole Sear (Hayley Joel Osment) … Imagine being a child that can “see dead people.” Cole Sear is one of those children. He is a psychic who can both see and talk to the dead. Cole’s psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe, has a responsibility to help Cole, especially after he failed a child much like him years before. This role was a huge building block in Osment’s career, earning him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

04. Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) in LADY IN THE WATER

At first glance we see an unassuming shlub of a man that manages the apartment building in LADY IN THE WATER. But upon closer inspection, we realize that Mr. Heep is a very kind and sensitive, but sad man. Unable to save his wife and children from an assailant years before, he is primed for redemption when he meets Story, a mythical creature from another world that needs to be saved. Something deep inside tells him that he must rally the other residents of the apartment complex to save Story, having no idea the profound effects this will not only have on his own life, but the on the future of mankind.

03. Lynn Sear (Toni Collette) in THE SIXTH SENSE

Lynn Sear (Toni Collette): Lynn Sear is the mother of Cole Sear (See his listing on our top 10). He confesses to her that he can see and talk to dead people. He then goes on to tell her her own mother once went to view her dance recital as a child, but she stood in the back so that Lynn couldn’t see her. He also gives her an answer to a question that she asks alone at her mothers grave. SPOOKY! Sear is a crucial role because she not only has to find help for her son, but has to pretend not to be creeped out by him!

02. David Dunn (Bruce Willis) in UNBREAKABLE

While David is the hero of UNBREAKABLE, he enters the film as a melancholy middle-aged man staring vacantly ahead on a commuter train. Soon he catches the sight of a young woman’s bare tattooed torso and quickly removes his wedding band. After being rebuffed by the woman after a clumsy pass he earns the disapproving look of a tot in a seat nearby (and probably most of the audience). All in all, not very heroic behavior. David is soon jolted out his stupor when he becomes the sole survivor of a horrific train crash. In the aftermath of the accident, David is confused when he wakes up in a hospital. His good health should be cause for celebration for his family, but we see David and his wife, Audrey, unclasping hands after they are brought together by their young son. We learn that David wakes every day with a heavy sadness which may contribute to the strain on the marriage. Shortly his mind is opened up to new possibilities after a talk with Elijah Price. David realizes he may be meant for things beyond his job as a college football stadium security guard.

M. Night does a great job in showing how this character reacts to these new ideas. After initially dismissing and denying his discovered abilities, David decides to embrace them and take action. Even after learning of his weakness (or as Elijah puts it, his “kryptonite”) David becomes a fighter for justice. Like Tony Stark, he overcomes his flaws and triumphs. But as the ending reveals, his awakening has come at a terrible price. I hope that perhaps one day an enterprising publisher can bring us more tales of David Dunn. It would be interesting to see what’s become of David (or, is he now The Protector or Sentry-Man?).

01. Elijah Price/Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson) in UNBREAKABLE

Every good story of a hero needs a great villain and M. Night provides us with a memorable one in UNBREAKABLE’s Elijah Price (aka, Mr. Glass). As with the later Spider-Man films, this villain has a personal connection to the hero, David Dunn, and a back story full of tragedy. The film opens with a flashback to the birth of Price at a department store. There we learn of his condition (brittle bones that break on the slightest impact). Flash ahead a few years and we see a lonely boy sitting alone in front of a blank TV screen, his arm in a sling. He tells his mother of the schoolyard taunts (“They call me Mister Glass!”). His mother is finally able to coax him outside with the promise of a gift… the newest issue of Active Comics. We jump ahead to adulthood and Price has found a way to make a living with his love of heroic fantasy as the owner of a comic book art gallery called Limited Edition. This is where he meets David Dunn after leaving a note on his car during a church service for the train crash victims. It’s then that we finally see him happy at the possibility of discovering a real life super-hero.

What could have been a one note villain becomes a very sympathetic character as we witness his frustrations in dealing with his medical condition. A climb down subway stairs becomes a frightening trek down a mountain top. UNBREAKABLE is one of the few DVD’s that has a terrific deleted scene. We see Elijah again as a pre-teen sneaking away from Mom to a street fair and a ride on a Tilt-A-Whirl. It’s a shame M. Night had to leave it out of the final film, the scene shocks you then tears your heart out. It really shows us what a sad life he’s lived and adds to the horror of that final scene. Elijah Price also benefits from a great restrained performance from Samuel L. Jackson.