M.Night Shyamalan wrote a children’s book with the same title and the illustrations were done by Crash McCreery. It was released the same day as the movie. Cleveland Heep is an apartment superintendent and he has a problem, he stutters. He meets a girl named Story swimming in the pool of the complex. He learns that she comes from the Blue World? She has a message for mankind? Is it possible that Cleveland can help her with her mission? Story is a water nymph and her life is in danger from a vicious wolf-like mystical creature called a Script. This creature is trying to prevent her from returning to her watery “blue world.”
Critics thought Shaymalan was too self-indulgent by casting himself in the film? There is also a lack of consistency and a problem with the film’s characterization. I think it was unfortunate that Shaymalan broke away from Disney. They really know how to go all out to promote a film with tie-ins such as dolls, toys and coloring books. The characters draw you into them and you feel the situations that are going on. It's a movie with hope and a good feeling. Just go with the flow and enjoy what is presented!! 3 1/1* (I liked this movie)
110 min, Drama directed by M. Night Shayamalan with Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban, Sarita Choudhury, Cindy Cheung, M. Night Shayamalan, Freddy Rodriguez, Bill Irwin, Mary Beth Hurt, Noah Gray-Cabey, Joseph D. Reitman, Jared Harris, Grant Nomohon, John Boyd.
Note: Imdb 5.5 out of 10 with 9,873 reviews, Roger Ebert 1 1/2* Jim Emerson, Amazon 4.1* out of 5* with 591 ratings, Rotten Tomatoes 25% critic with 212 critics 49% audience with 419,547 ratings, The Guardian 1* Peter Bradshaw, Metacritic 36 out of 100 with 36 critics (2 positive, 20 mixed, 14 negative) 6.3 out of 10 with 433 user scores (243 positive, 66 mixed, 124 negative).
Special Note: This movie is based on a bedtime story the director wrote for his children. Filmed in Levittown and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This film had a shockingly high budget!! The setting was just one location but the apartment complex and the pool were built for the film. There is also a half city block of row houses. Jacobson Logistics Warehouse was also a filming site after their work hours. Kevin Costner was considered for the role of Heep. Giamatti accepted the role before Costner was contacted. This is the first film for Cindy Cheung and her agent demanded $1 million for her role? Shayamalan was prepared to pay the SAG minimum of $65,000. They settled at $100,000. Originally, Disney was involved in production but the president of development took her son to a party instead of reading the script? It was personal couriered to her and she also didn’t like it. There were “creative differences” and the script was given to Warner Bros. Because the film didn’t receive the usual marketing campaign that Disney uses for their films, this movie was a box-office flop. The gross was $72 million against a $70 million production budget.
Award nominations: Teen Choice Awards: Young Artist Awards with Noah Gray-Cabey as Best Young Actor - Ten or Under; Golden Raspberry Awards: Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay, Worst Director a win, Worst Supporting Actor a win; Stinkers Bad Movie Awards: Worst Supporting Actress a win and Most Annoying Fake Accent - Female a win for Cindy Cheung, Worst Ensemble a win for the entire cast, Least Scary Horror Movie a win.
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