Lady in the Water is an M. Night Shyamalan film, but not a typical film of his. Normally immersed within the horror/thriller/fantasy genres, this movie diverges from his usual vein. Lady in the Water is strictly a fairy tale. It tells the story of a man, a landlord named Cleveland Heep, who discovers a nymph named Story. Together with his tenants, he helps her with her mission and they all discover their own destinies along the way.

Fans of M. Night Shyamalan will appreciate this film if they keep in mind the fact that it isn't meant to be scary. Fans of fairy tales will surely appreciate the myths and magical qualities of the film.

Paul Giamatti is excellent in this film! His portrayal of the kind and noble Cleveland Heep is incredible. I also enjoyed the fairy tale qualities to the story and the way everyone finds their purpose.

After finishing watching this film, like every fairy tale film, I wanted to watch it over again. I'm a huge fan of fantasies that have fairy tale qualities, so I enjoyed this immensely.

This film made me feel magical. It made me believe that magical happenings are possible in our world. In Lady in the Water, that's what happens - a myth comes to life, in Philadelphia, USA. It's a very real world in which something very unreal happens, and it's portrayed in a very possible way.

Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard played their parts incredibly well. They make an unusual pair that fits together in a strangely perfect way. The smaller roles, including Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright, Sarita Choudhury, Freddy Rodriguez, Bill Irwin, Jared Harris (and M. Night Shyamalan himself) make their own characters unique and likeable (or dislikeable in some cases).

I recommend this DVD because I feel it's an often over-looked and underappreciated film. I didn't see much of the advertising before I saw the film, but from what I've heard, it was portrayed as a horror "classic Shyamalan" movie, which it's definitely not. If you haven't seen it, don't be taken by that false impression. Go into this thinking it's a fairy tale, a bedtime story. You'll like it more that way. If you've already seen it, give it another try. Maybe this time it's magic will reach you.

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Created Nov 07, 2008 at 5:59pm • Submit your own review...