The 2000s Emotional Fantasy Epic Being Lost To Generations Is Way Better Than Its Rotten Tomatoes Score
Lady in the Water is a movie by M. Night Shyamalan, a hotly debated director. While the movie has a really poor rating, I loved this film growing up and still enjoy watching it to this day. For those who don’t mind Shyamalan or who want a story that makes you feel important, Lady in the Water deserves a chance.
Lady In The Water Is A Modern Fairytale
Lady in the Water follows the story of a small apartment complex and its maintenance man, Cleaveland Heep (Paul Giamatti). Everyone in the apartment is a little strange and seems to have their own peculiarities.
One night, while trying to take care of the pool, Cleveland comes across a naked woman (Story, played by Bryce Dallas Howard) he’s never seen before. She asks him for help, as there is an evil creature called a scrunt chasing her. But Cleaveland is unable to do it alone and relies on everyone in the apartment complex to save this young woman.
Low Ratings But Almsot A Cult Favorite
Unfortunately, while M. Night Shyamalan had some great movies, such as The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable, he also had fans who didn’t agree with Lady in the Water. Despite the low ratings, with a critic score of 25 percent and an audience rating of 49 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s not actually hated as much as it seems.
Shyamalan Was Savaged By Critics
The biggest issue is Shyamalan’s self-insert. He placed himself in the role of a writer who advances the plot and saves the day. It didn’t sit well with critics and viewers, and it made the whole point of the movie feel like an egotistical self-insert.
For example, a review for Lady in the Water by John R. on Rotten Tomatoes says, “This hurts my head. The sheer moxie of M. Night Shyamalan’s ego displayed in this is gobsmacking. To give yourself, a writer-director, a role in your film where you play a writer who’s writing “changes” the world, you would have to be on crack or something to think that that would be a good idea. Oh and he writes a critic into the film for the sole purpose of portraying all critics as mean-spirited, cynical snobs.”
Overall, the main issue came from the fact that the story tried too hard to be a bedtime story and a serious, dry movie all at once. It left many viewers confused and a little frustrated as they tried to understand everything.
One Location But Makes The Absolute Most Of It
Despite the bad reviews, Lady in the Water was one of my favorites growing up. I liked the premise that everyone in the world has a purpose, even the weird guy who only exercises one arm or the person obsessed with crossword puzzles.
Also, I loved the imagery. Everything was a little on the dry side as far as emotions and acting, but it added a bit of weariness to the story. Bad things happen all the time, and people may feel like giving up, but having a little empathy, even when you’re tired of it all, can end up changing someone’s life.
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REVIEW SCORE
And honestly, I thought the creatures were cool, as well as the potential. The information given on the narfs and the creatures that hunt them is pretty vague, but done in a realistic enough way that my imagination could come up with all sorts of ideas on their situation and history, which I always enjoy in a story.
I find that the ones that let my imagination run freely are much more exciting than stories where everything is explained to me, and Lady in the Water did a great job of that.
Unfortunately, Lady in the Water is pretty hard to find, especially if you’re not looking to spend any more than you already are on TV. If you don’t mind paying a little extra, the best place to look is on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.
