Unbreakable

UNBREAKABLE

Rating: C+
We watched a film in college once where the opening shots employed an unusual technique. Rather than filming the actors directly, the camera focused on their reflections in a nearby mirror. The professor pointed out this was a cinematic technique to alert the viewer that the following film was from a distorted point of view. We weren't seeing the objective truth, but only the truth as it was reflected and distorted by the mirror.

In the opening scene of Unbreakable, we witness Samuel L. Jackson's character as an infant freshly arrived into the world. As his mother wonders why he won't stop crying, the doctor is horrified to realize the baby's arms and legs were broken in the womb. (We later learn he has a tragic disease which causes his bones to be fragile as glass.) This whole opening sequence is filmed largely in a mirror. Hmmm...

Writer/Director M. Night Shyamalan continues to use distorted points of view throughout the film. I lost count of the number of POV shots from an upside-down or sideways perspective. Other times, foreground objects intrude into our view, whether they be the seats on a train or billowing window curtains, reminding us we're watching the action from a fallible point of view, and not from the usual all-knowing eye of the camera. Something somewhere, Shyamalan keeps teasingly reminding us, is amiss.

The whole idea driving Unbreakable is the search for the true perspective on what's happening before us on screen. Both for the audience, and lead character Bruce Willis, who is the lone survivor of a horrific train crash. Not only did he live while hundreds of others died, but he emerged without a scratch. His search for meaning in these events leads him into contact with the Samuel Jackson character, who tries to convince Willis that he is truly "unbreakable", and meant for a higher purpose in life. The concept of an individual's search for meaning in his life is certainly viable fodder for an intriguing story. But the idea that Willis's body is literally unbreakable, and connecting it with the "legends" of comic book superheroes seems a bit far-fetched to say the least. I'd much sooner accept the premise of someone being dead without realizing it.

The film gets bogged down repeatedly. One sequence with Willis and his son (Spencer Treat Clark) concerns Willis bench-pressing heavier and heavier poundages as he works out in the basement. The problem is you can tell where the scene is heading almost immediately, and watching the actual presses (followed by the inevitable "Oh, wow!" each time) doesn't make for particularly engrossing cinema. Likewise, Willis and his wife (Robin Wright Penn) have a strained relationship, the details of which are never made clear. The result is that all the "should we get back together?" waffling holds little interest since there's no comprehension of what was wrong to begin with. We're asked to just accept that there's a problem, and that the two of them reconciling would be a good thing. But I want more information before rooting one way or the other, dammit. Later there's a scene with Willis, his son, and a handgun which is absolutely ridiculous. Asking us to believe such a scene could actually transpire is an insult to our intelligence.

Better are scenes where Willis stands in a bustling train station and catches eerie mental flashes of the lives of the people who hurriedly brush past him. Then there's a scene where Jackson attempts to follow a fleeing man. I won't give away the details, but it certainly was effective in a gut-wrenching sort of way.

Ultimately, the success of the film hinges on the strength of its secret. Unfortunately, the grand unveiling doesn't make a whole lot of sense in terms of logistics, nor does it serve as a satisfying ending after such a long buildup. In spite of some intriguing elements, it comes off as half-baked. The kind of twist a writer might come up with if he was rushing to get his next film into the theaters, or if those around him were afraid to tell him he had bats in his belfry.

For those interested in cameos, ol' M. Night himself appears briefly in the scene inside the stadium. He's the guy with the blue windbreaker whom Bruce Willis accuses of being a drug dealer. My personal opinion is he should have spent less time in front of the camera and more time behind it polishing the script.