Signs: Review By kerouac1

I went into Signs blind. For me, that's big. Normally I'm all over any spoiler that goes around about a film, especially if it's a film I'm anxious to see, but I steered clear with this one. the reason? M. Night is one of my favorite filmmakers working today, and his ability to spin an interesting yarn that keeps you on the edge of your seat impresses me. He's an old-school filmmaker working with new-school toys. He's been able to blend story-telling with modern filmmaking seamlessly since he burst onto the scene with The Sixth Sense. So, because of that I adamently avoided any spoilers for the film.Wow! I am GLAD I didn't know anything going into this other than the information gleaned from the tantalizing trailers. I'll try not to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen the film (and judging from the box office, that's not many of you!). Basically, this is a story about faith more than it is about aliens. The aliens are pivotal, yet peripheral. They are the driving force that moves the story along, but that's it. Mel Gibson gives the most subtle, understated performance of his career, and I liked him more here than I ever have before. Joaquin Phoenix is, as always, brilliant. Here he sheds some of that boiling beneath-the-surface rage that he is so good at protraying, and he gives a more rounded performance that even lets in a bit of humor. And the two children, Rory Culkin and Abigail Breslin, are phenominal. M. Night is certainly following in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg as someone who can get a great performance out of a child actor.The only thing that makes this movie a 4 instead of a 5 is the tendency toward heavy-handedness at the end. M. Night, usually a very intelligent filmmaker who doesn't underestimate his audience, lays too many things in front of us at the end. There are shots that could have been cut and we, the audience, still would have figured things out. Nothing takes me out of a movie quicker than being shown the answer. Challenge me. Make me think. Not that I can completely blame M. Night for taking this approach. After what he perceived as the failure of Unbreakable (which is absurd to me...it's his best film todate!) he put a lot of pressure on himself to make a more audience friendly film.That little nit-pick aside, I loved this film. The atmosphere created was outstanding. The use of the alien plotline was wonderful. The exploration of faith was interesting. And all of this was backed by M. Night's always tight writing and an incredible score by James Newton Howard. Signs