Lady in the Water (2006)

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer (WGA):

M. Night Shyamalan (written by)

Release Date:

21 July 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Time is running out for a happy ending.

Plot:

Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Bedtime Story | Stuttering | Swimming Pool | Eagle

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Nov. 29

6:00 AM

MAX

Cast

Paul Giamatti	...	Cleveland Heep
Bryce Dallas Howard	...	Story
Jeffrey Wright	...	Mr. Dury
Bob Balaban	...	Harry Farber
Sarita Choudhury	...	Anna Ran
Cindy Cheung	...	Young-Soon Choi
M. Night Shyamalan	...	Vick Ran
Freddy Rodríguez	...	Reggie
Bill Irwin	...	Mr. Leeds
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Mrs. Bell
Noah Gray-Cabey	...	Joey Dury
Joseph D. Reitman	...	Long Haired Smoker
Jared Harris	...	Goatee Smoker
Grant Monohon	...	Emaciated Smoker
John Boyd	...	One-Eyebrow Smoker
Ethan Cohn	...	Glasses Smoker
June Kyoto Lu	...	Mrs. Choi (as June Kyoko Lu)
Tovah Feldshuh	...	Mrs. Bubchik
Tom Mardirosian	...	Mr. Bubchik
Maricruz Hernandez	...	Perez de la Torre Sister #1
Carla Jimenez	...	Perez de la Torre Sister #2
Natasha Perez	...	Perez de la Torre Sister #3
Monique Gabriela Curnen	...	Perez de la Torre Sister #4
Marilyn Torres	...	Perez de la Torre Sister #5
George Bass	...	Mr. Perez de la Torre
Joel Garland	...	Pool Guy (as Joel Marsh Garland)
James Breen	...	SPCA Guy (as James "Jimbo" Breen)
Nell Johnson	...	Phone Message (voice)
Walter Lafty	...	Silvertide Band Member
Mark Melchiorre Jr.	...	Silvertide Band Member
Kevin Frank	...	Silvertide Band Member
Brian Weaver	...	Silvertide Band Member
Nick Perri	...	Silvertide Band Member
Jeremy Howard	...	Tartutic #1
Brian Steele	...	Tartutic #2
Kurt Carley	...	Tartutic #3
Doug Jones	...	Tartutic #4
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alexander Emmert	...	Blond Smoker (uncredited)
Scott Hatfield	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Keith Moyer	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Mark J. Parker	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Eugene Smith	...	Party Guest (uncredited)
Towanda Underdue	...	Apartment Tenant (uncredited)
Mathew J. Wright	...	Party Guest (uncredited)

Directed by
M. Night Shyamalan

Writing credits (WGA)
M. Night Shyamalan		(written by)

Produced by
Sam Mercer	....	producer
Jose L. Rodriguez	....	associate producer
John Rusk	....	associate producer
M. Night Shyamalan	....	producer

Original Music by
James Newton Howard

Cinematography by
Christopher Doyle

Film Editing by
Barbara Tulliver

Casting by
Douglas Aibel

Production Design by
Martin Childs

Art Direction by
Stefan Dechant
Christina Ann Wilson		(as Christina Wilson)

Set Decoration by
Larry Dias

Costume Design by
Betsy Heimann

Makeup Department
Merribelle Anderson	....	key hair stylist (as Merribelle A. Anderson)
Steven E. Anderson	....	prosthetic makeup artist (as Steven Anderson)
Qodi Armstrong	....	hair stylist
Jason Barnett	....	special makeup effects technician: Spectral Motion
Adrienne Bearden	....	makeup artist
Roland Blancaflor	....	prosthetic department supervisor/speciality costumes: Spectral Motion Inc.
Diane Dixon	....	assistant hair stylist
Mike Elizalde	....	makeup effects supervisor
Mike Elizalde	....	prosthetic makeup department head
Diane Heller	....	makeup artist
Don Kozma	....	key makeup artist (as Donald A. Kozma)
Bernadette Mazur	....	makeup department head
Cass McClure	....	prosthetics technician: Spectral Motion
James Ojala	....	special makeup effects technician: Spectral Motion, Inc.
Betty Lou Skinner	....	hair stylist
Wesley Wofford	....	prosthetic makeup department head
Melissa A. Yonkey	....	hair department head (as Melissa Yonkey)

Production Management
Bill Daly	....	post-production executive
Sharon Mann	....	unit production manager
Ravi D. Mehta	....	executive in charge of production
Gerald Scaife	....	production supervisor
Jessie Thiele	....	post-production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Keri Bruno	....	second second assistant director
Brick Mason	....	second unit director
Joseph Payton	....	dga trainee
Keith Potter	....	additional second assistant director
John Rusk	....	first assistant director
Basti Van Der Woude	....	second assistant director

Art Department
Richard J. Bell	....	greens foreman
Sean Bernard	....	paint foreman
Dawn Brown	....	set designer
Dianne Chadwick	....	graphic designer
Brandon Cook	....	props
Alan Danielson	....	key model maker
Leo Doyer	....	structural designer
Karyn Gerred	....	scenic artist
Daniel J. Gillooly	....	greens coordinator
L. David Gordon	....	drapery foreman
Antony Graf	....	construction grip
Frank Grasso	....	construction grip
Alicia Jacobson	....	scenic foreperson
Noelle King	....	set designer
Mitchell Landsman	....	model maker
Ted Lubonovich II	....	shop craft
Lori Marks	....	scenic artist
Vinny Mazzarella	....	assistant property master
James Mazzola	....	property master
Mary O'Brien	....	scenic artist
Jim Orr	....	set dresser
Randy L. Parisian	....	scenic artist
Sara Philpott	....	art department coordinator
Scott T. Pina	....	construction foreman
Sharon Potts	....	assistant property master
Jolie Scherberger	....	set dresser
John S. Schlicter	....	model maker
Stephen Siersema	....	camera scenic
Joseph Siwinski	....	lead man
Dennis Tillberg	....	scenic artist
Erica Vanstone	....	construction office coordinator
Kory C. Victor	....	art researcher
Christine Wick	....	assistant set decorator
Paul Williams	....	construction coordinator
Kurt Wunder	....	carpenter
Brick Mason	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)
James Passanante	....	lead scenic (uncredited)
Trey Shaffer	....	graphic designer: set decorating (uncredited)

Sound Department
Steve Boeddeker	....	sound designer
Lisa Chino	....	assistant dialogue editor
Lee Dichter	....	sound re-recording mixer
Aren Downie	....	assistant sound editor
Sean England	....	foley recordist
Frank E. Eulner	....	supervising sound editor (as Frank Eulner)
Andre Fenley	....	assistant supervising sound editor
Will Files	....	assistant sound designer
Scott Guitteau	....	sound effects editor
Ellen Heuer	....	foley artist
Marilyn McCoppen	....	supervising adr editor
Chris Munro	....	production sound mixer
Anthony Ortiz	....	boom operator
Mike Patrick	....	sound mix technician
Troy Porter	....	adr mixer
Frank Rinella	....	foley mixer
Ronald G. Roumas	....	sound re-recordist
Michael Scott	....	sound recordist
Kevin Sellers	....	foley editor
Michael Semanick	....	sound re-recording mixer
Dennie Thorpe	....	foley artist
Jana Vance	....	foley artist
Marshall Winn	....	supervising adr editor
Marshall Winn	....	supervising dialogue editor
Brian Magerkurth	....	sound mix technician (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Peter Abrahamson	....	puppeteer
Brent Baker	....	mold department and life-casting supervisor: Spectral Motion
Jim Beinke	....	creature effects crew
Brian Blair	....	special effects crew (as Bryan Blair)
Darin Bouyssou	....	creature effects technician: Spectral Motion Inc.
Steve Cremin	....	special effects coordinator
Joel Dobzewitz	....	special effects crew
Mary Elizalde	....	CFO: Spectral Motion Inc.
Mary Elizalde	....	special effects crew
Mike Elizalde	....	creature effects supervisor
Christian Eubank	....	special effects technician (as Christian F. Eubank)
Eric Fiedler	....	special effects crew
Frederick Fraleigh	....	special effects crew
Michael Frechette	....	special effects set foreman
Dave Grasso	....	special effects crew (as David Grasso)
Moto Hata	....	special effects crew (as Motoyoshi Hata)
Jurgen Heimann	....	animatronics
Jurgen Heimann	....	puppeteer
Anh Le Hoang	....	special effects technician (as Hoang Anh Le)
Nick Karas	....	special effects shop technician
Steve Katz	....	special effects crew
Taishiro Kiya	....	special effects crew
Daria Kokhanenko	....	special effects crew
Junko Komori	....	special effects crew
Tim Larsen	....	special effects crew (as Tim 'Gore' Larsen)
William Lee	....	special effects technician
Russell Lukich	....	painter
Russell Lukich	....	sculptor
Kyle Martin	....	special effects crew
Tim Martin	....	special effects crew
Cass McClure	....	prosthetics technician: Spectral Motion
Bud McGrew	....	special effects crew
Kevin McTurk	....	special effects makeup: Spectral Motion
Verena Mercenier	....	special effects crew
Scott Millenbaugh	....	special effects crew
Michael O'Brien	....	creature effects technician: Spectral Motion Inc.
Larry Odien	....	mechanical assistant: Spectral Motion
Erika Olseon	....	special effects crew
David Perteet	....	special effects crew
Tim Phoenix	....	special effects crew (as Timothy Phoenix)
Brian Poor	....	animatronics technician: Spectral Motion
Missy R. Russell	....	creature effects administrative assistant: Spectral Motion, Inc. (as Melissa Russell)
Tetsufumi Sakae	....	special effects crew
Yoichi Art Sakamoto	....	special creature effects
Noriko Sato	....	special effects crew
Mark Setrakian	....	key animatronic designer
Michael Shellito	....	special effects technician
Amber Skowronski	....	special effects crew
Tully Summers	....	special effects crew
Mario Vanillo	....	special effects shop foreman
Brian Walsh	....	production supervisor: Spectral Motion, Inc.
Steve Wang	....	special effects crew
Patrick Edward White	....	special effects
Peter Zhang	....	special effects crew
Douglas D. Ziegler	....	special effects technician (as Doug Ziegler)
Michael Broussard	....	mermaid effects supervisor: additional photography (uncredited)
David M. Sterner	....	special effects technician (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
Charles Alleneck	....	animator
Christian Alzmann	....	visual effects art director
Kevin Barnhill	....	digital effects supervisor
Casey Basichis	....	digital artist
T.J. Burke	....	digital artist
Marshall Candland	....	digital artist
Ozzie Carmona	....	digital compositor
Mark Casey	....	digital artist
Daniel Cavey	....	production assistant: ILM
Grady Cofer	....	lead Inferno artist
Christopher Cram	....	visual effects associate producer
Lorelei David	....	visual effects editor
Jeff Doran	....	digital artist
Sam Edwards	....	Inferno artist
Jenn Emberly	....	digital artist
Conny Fauser	....	digital artist
Cameron Folds	....	animator: ILM
Bridget Maria Goodman	....	digital artist (as Bridget Goodman)
Tim Harrington	....	animation supervisor: ILM
Edward Hirsh	....	visual effects supervisor
Jiri Jacknowitz	....	lead digital paint & roto artist
Jeanmarie King	....	visual effects producer
Marshall Richard Krasser	....	compositing supervisor: ILM (as Marshall Krasser)
Lana Lan	....	digital artist
Mark 'Crash' McCreery	....	creature effects
Sébastien Moreau	....	sabre compositor: ILM
Josh Novak	....	lead compositor: main title sequence
Shane O'Connor	....	production assistant: ILM
Jim O'Hagan	....	digital compositor: Pacific Title
Erik Pampel	....	assistant visual effects editor: ILM
Janet Quen	....	Flame artist: ILM
Steve Rawlins	....	digital artist
Megan Rible	....	technical assistant
Thomas Rosseter	....	digital compositor (as Tom Rosseter)
Dale Taylor	....	visual effects coordinator: ILM
Johan Thorngren	....	digital matte artist: ILM
Greg Towner	....	animator: ILM
Alex Tropiec Jr.	....	Inferno artist: ILM (as Alex Tropiec)
Robert Weaver	....	digital artist
John Whisnant	....	digital artist
Bob Wiatr	....	Inferno artist: Pacific Title
Nick Woo	....	technical support
Keiji Yamaguchi	....	creature development
Roland Yepez	....	digital artist: ILM
Anna Bies	....	costumer: ILM (uncredited)
Maggie Oh	....	digital artist: ILM (uncredited)

Stunts
Jake Brake	....	stunt rigger
Julia Dumenigo	....	assistant to stunt coordinator
Jeff Habberstad	....	stunt coordinator
Jeri Habberstad	....	stunt double
G. Grant Jewett	....	stunts
Jake Lombard	....	stunt rigger
Gary Price	....	stunt double
Karin Silvestri	....	stunt double: Bryce Dallas Howard
Lee Waddell	....	underwater stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
James Baldanza	....	underwater second assistant camera
Chris Beattie	....	rigging grip
Matt Blades	....	dolly grip: "b" camera
Josh Blakeslee	....	second assistant camera
Phil Bradshaw	....	grip
David Brandon	....	electrician
Ronald Burke	....	dolly grip
David M. Carr	....	grip
John-Paul Chase	....	rigging grip
Glenn Davis	....	dimmer board operator (as Glenn R. Davis)
Thomas Devine	....	electrician
Edwin Effrein	....	Steadicam operator
Greg Finkel	....	second assistant camera
Kevin Flynn	....	key rigging grip
Timothy Flynn	....	rigging grip
Sean P. Gilbert	....	underwater first assistant camera
Kevin Groff	....	grip
Chris Hensel	....	grip
Russ Hoffman	....	electrician
Gregory F. Johnson	....	rigging grip
Brian Jordan	....	video assistant utility
Glenn Kaplan	....	key first assistant camera: "a" camera
Chris Kilduff	....	best boy grip
Jeremy Knaster	....	electrician
Michael Asa Leonard	....	additional first assistant camera
Rob Mabin	....	electrician
Frank Masi	....	still photographer
Rob Mock	....	grip
William D. Moran	....	grip
Jon D. Morrison	....	set lighting
Francine Natale	....	assistant chief lighting technician
Yen P. Nguyen	....	camera loader
Bill O'Leary	....	chief lighting technician
Justin Panzanaro	....	rigging grip
Colin J. Peters	....	electrician
Louis Petraglia	....	rigging electric best boy
Balint Pinczehelyi	....	best boy rigging grip
Tom Prate	....	key grip
Pete Romano	....	underwater director of photography
Joe Sarao	....	rigging grip
Daniel D. Sariano	....	assistant camera
Craig Striano	....	crane operator: Super Technocrane
Jude Webster	....	rigging grip
Franz Yeich	....	rigging grip
Paul Goroff	....	super technocrane operator (uncredited)

Casting Department
Melanie Crescenz	....	extras casting
Deborah Maxwell Dion	....	casting associate: Los Angeles
Barbara Harris	....	adr voice casting
Stephanie Holbrook	....	casting associate
Jeanine Pengiel	....	casting assistant
Deedra Ricketts	....	location casting
Sarah Tucci	....	casting assistant

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rachel Leek	....	set costumer
Kara Morasco	....	tailor
David Paulin	....	costume dyer/painter
Kevin Ritter	....	key costumer: men
Autumn Saville	....	assistant costume designer

Editorial Department
Ian Blume	....	assistant editor
Stephanie M. Casey	....	additional assistant editor
Olivier Fontenay	....	color timer
Terry Haggar	....	color timer
Craig Hayes	....	associate editor
Mo Henry	....	negative cutter
Jordan Lindblad	....	assistant editor
Lauren Scott	....	post-production coordinator
Colleen Sharp	....	associate editor
Joe Violante	....	color timer: dailies (as Joey Violante)

Music Department
Nancy Allen	....	assistant music editor
Pete Anthony	....	conductor
Jeff Atmajian	....	orchestrator
Chris Bacon	....	music score programmer (as Chris P. Bacon)
Brad Dechter	....	orchestrator
Thomas S. Drescher	....	supervising music editor (as Thomas Drescher)
Grant Gershon	....	conductor: choir
Mark Graham	....	music librarian
Joel Iwataki	....	music score mixer
Susan Jacobs	....	music supervisor
Jon Kull	....	orchestrator
Alan Meyerson	....	music scoring mixer
Shawn Murphy	....	score recordist
Shawn Murphy	....	scoring mixer
Julia Newmann	....	scoring intern
Suzana Peric	....	music editor
Patrick Russ	....	orchestrator
Steven L. Smith	....	music preparation
Stuart Michael Thomas	....	music score programmer
Mel Wesson	....	composer: additional textures

Transportation Department
Corbin Kelly	....	mechanic
Michael Kelly	....	transportation
John Morrone III	....	transportation co-coordinator
Kirk Kelly	....	mechanic (uncredited)

Other crew
Guy Adan	....	unit publicist
Richard Bloom	....	assistant: Mr. Mercer
Victoria Boaz	....	production assistant
Christian Brockey	....	production coordinator
Chrismandu	....	photo double: Paul Giamatti
Chrismandu	....	stand-in: Paul Giamatti
Michele Cusick	....	set production assistant
Mary Cybulski	....	script supervisor
Benjamin Davidow	....	production assistant
Joseph DeBona	....	stand-in
Anthony DeFrancesco	....	set production assistant
Mike Duffy	....	production assistant
Lauren E. Enfield	....	production asssistant: first team
Jennifer Zolten Freed	....	post-production accountant
Jay Geller	....	metal work and welding
Andrew Gershon	....	production assistant
Matthew Hanlon	....	tool coordinator
Brandy Hartley	....	assistant construction office coordinator
Moet Hashimoto	....	assistant: Ms. Howard
Sarah Haugen	....	assistant: Ms. Howard
Bill Horton	....	location projectionist
Blair Howley	....	set production assistant
Jason Johnson	....	production assistant
Lyndsay Kancher	....	production assistant
Madeleine Karpel	....	assistant: Mr. Shyamalan
Meghan Keener	....	additional assistant to producer
Kathleen Kelly	....	key medic
Nick Klinger	....	additional production assistant
Michael J. Kraycik	....	facilities assistant
Tim Lamendola	....	stand-in
William Lebeda	....	title designer: opening sequence
Talia Leone	....	production assistant
James Lin	....	location manager
Elaine L. Liu	....	assistant: Mr. Doyle (as Elaine Liu)
Sandy Lizaola-Hernandez	....	physical production coordinator: staff
Michael B. Louis	....	location supervisor
April R. Loutrel	....	assistant: Mr. Shyamalan (as April Harshaw)
Stuart Math	....	researcher: archival footage and photos
Mark Mayer	....	production accountant
Joseph McFadden	....	additional production assistant
Marisa Murphy	....	accounting clerk
Stacy Opalewski	....	extras coordinator
Athanasios Paliatsas	....	assistant: Mr Cremin
Sharon Pinkenson	....	film commissioner
Edward Poveda	....	payroll accountant
Mark Pricskett	....	stand-in
David Raynor	....	assistant production coordinator
Jon Rocks	....	production assistant
Eric J. Scheiner	....	production assistant
Skylar Schmidt	....	second assistant accountant
Dee Schuka	....	post-production accountant
Lauren Scott	....	production secretary
Lauren Scott	....	travel coordinator
Mark Setrakian	....	principal puppeteer
Michael Siu	....	assistant: Mr. Doyle
Pamela J. Sollie	....	assistant: James Newton Howard
Jon Stein	....	runner
Patricia Urias	....	seamer
Lisa Wiggins	....	first assistant accountant
Travis Quentin Young	....	adr voice
Dan Zarenkiewicz	....	production assistant
Terrence B. Zinn	....	key set production assistant

Production Companies

• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Blinding Edge Pictures
• Legendary Pictures

Distributors

• Warner Bros. Pictures (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Fox-Warner (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Belgium) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Brazil) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (France) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Philippines) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2006) (Singapore) (theatrical)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (Blu-Ray Disc)
• Warner Home Vídeo (2006) (Brazil) (DVD)

Special Effects

• Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) (special visual effects and animation)
• Spectral Motion (creature and makeup effects)
• Pacific Title and Art Studio (opticals)

Other Companies

• Bender ET  GFCI shock protection provided by
• Cable News Network (CNN)  footage (as CNN Imagesource)
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  dollies
• Cinelease  grip and electric equipment
• Decca Records  soundtrack
• ITN Archive  footage
• Los Angeles Master Chorale  choir
• Marcella C. Public Relations  special publicity
• NBC News Archives  footage
• Orbit Digital  HD services
• Otto Nemenz International  cameras
• Pacific Title and Art Studio  opticals
• Picture Mill, The  titles
• Technicolor  color and prints
• Temptu  tattoos
• Tony's Food Service  catering
• Trevanna Post  post-production accounting

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some frightening sequences.

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital EX | DTS-ES

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Malaysia:U | Ireland:12A | UK:PG | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | USA:PG-13 (certificate #42716) | India:U | Australia:PG | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Hong Kong:IIA | Finland:K-11 | Argentina:16 | Germany:12 | Brazil:10 | Netherlands:12 | Hungary:14 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Sweden:11 | Italy:T | South Korea:All | Canada:G (Québec) | New Zealand:PG

Filming Locations:

Levittown, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The plot of the movie is based on a bedtime story M. Night Shyamalan wrote for his kids.

Goofs:

Factual errors: When he sees Vick's book "The Cookbook," Cleveland says to himself, "This is s-s-s-s-silly." Stutterers do not have a stammer when talking to themselves; they only stutter when talking to other people.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Cleveland Heep: Once, man and those in the water were linked. They inspired us. They spoke of the future. Man listened and it became real. But man does not listen very well. Man's need to own everything led him deeper into land. The magic world of the ones that lived in the ocean...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Reflections of Lady in the Water (2006) (V)

Soundtrack:

Spoon

Splish Splash investors are taking a bath

I wonder if, after taking in M. Night Shyamalan's The Lady in the Water, Haley Joel Osment's character from The Sixth Sense might be inclined to say "I see lousy films, and one of them is in this theatre." Actually, calling The Lady in the Water "lousy" is too simplistic. The movie is more of a train wreck, with partially realized elements, loose ends aplenty, and wildly improbable leaps in its own narrative. And yet, in true Shyamalan fashion, the movie commands viewer respect in spite of its flaws.

Shyamalan credits the movie's plot to a bedtime story he created to entertain his children, but instead of conveying a simple story, the tale unfolds as a muddled new age fable that never really goes anywhere or accomplishes anything.

The movie's greatest strength is the casting of Paul Giamatti as Cleveland Heep, the stuttering schlep caretaker of a Philadelphia apartment complex known as The Cove. Giamatti's everyman quality makes it easy for the viewer to quickly get sucked into the story, which involves Heep's discovery of a mysterious woman (Bryce Dallas Howard) one night in the complex's pool. Turns out this "Narf", or water nymph, has been sent from the "blue world" to the world of men to impart some sort of mystical knowledge that the film never makes very clear. Trying their best to kill her before she fulfills her mission are shadowy, supernatural "Scrunts", large hyena-like creatures comprised of grass and earth.

Sounds strange? Watching the film doesn't help as Shyamalan never bothers to explain why the Scrunts are out to kill his heroine, much less the grand importance of her mission.

In the decade that's passed since Shymalan burst onto the scene with his brilliant The Sixth Sense, the director has cultivated an equally proportioned number of fans and detractors. Few movie directors have been able to so totally polarize movie going audiences into love him or hate him camps as Shymalan. A lot of this has to do with his penchant for building his movies around plot twist device that fans either love, or find hackneyed.

As if listening to his critics, Shymalan has eschewed his traditional plot twist this time out in favor of a more conventional narrative, albeit one that more closely resembles a phone conversation with a really bad connection. The whole experience actually left me wishing for a twist that would turn the movie on its head and make me feel like everything I'd spent the last two hours watching was much more than the sum of its ambiguous parts.

Still, for all its numerous flaws, The Lady in the Water is still a compelling film. Shymalan's talent for imagery, characterization and musical scoring all give this movie a watchable dimension. I also have to admire him for his vision, for unlike many of his directorial contemporaries, he hasn't opted to "sell out" and cash in by helming any one of Hollywood's countless superhero action adventure popcorn movies that fill the cinemas each summer. He has a vision and stands by it, even unto failure. There's something to be admired in that.