The ACTING!!!
Best Actor Oscar for Mel Gibson, cast against action-hero type! Best Supporting Actor and Actress for the two little kids! Deep and heartfelt performances from all. (Too bad this is August – it’s usually the later-season movies that win all the gold.)
The WRITING!!!
It was freakin’ SCARY!!!
The special effects (what there were of them) were EXTREMELY understated. Most of the movie was people sittin’ around talkin’ and watchin’ TV. (Just like that John Sayles movie people liked so much.) It was almost like a stage play. Hell, one of these days it probably WILL be a stage play. And yet…and YET…
IT WAS PURE PSYCHOLOGICAL TERROR!!!
It was EMOTIONALLY AFFECTING.
Some scenes, I wanted to mewl and blubber.
Shyamalan is a GENIUS.
And a d*mn good writer!