M. Night Shyamalan's lushly ominous alien-visitation thriller is a very well-crafted tease. It's set in the clear-skied American Gothic farmlands of Pennsylvania, where Graham Hess (Mel Gibson), a widowed father and former reverend, is grappling with his mislaid faith. For a while, the portents are captivating, as Shyamalan exploits crop circles for the full, suggestive power of their eerily anonymous symmetry. Yet the movie is all tricks and premonitions. Shyamalan, in his gloss on Close Encounters, plays on our primitive desire to see what's coming next in a way that proves a lot more compelling than what actually comes next.
EW's GRADE
B-Details Release Date: Aug 02, 2002; Rated: PG-13; Length: 107 Minutes; Genres: Mystery and Thriller, Sci-fi and Fantasy; With: Mel Gibson and Joaquin Phoenix; Distributor: Touchstone Pictures; More
You Might Also Like
- Movie Article Alien attack movies: How to survive
- Video Review Signs
- Movie Article See which A-list directors acted up in 2002
- Movie Article Record-setting box office surges past $9 billion in 2002
- Box Office Report ''Swimfan'' debuts at No. 1 at the box office
Movie Calendar
- January 3
- January 4
- January 6
- January 13
- January 20
- January 27
- February 3
- February 10
- February 17
- February 24
- March 2
- March 9
- March 16
- March 23
- March 30
- April 4
- April 6
- April 13
- April 20
- April 27
- * Dates subject to change
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.