Compounding
viewers’ unwillingness to suspend their disbelief
is the disjointed, herky‑jerky expediency
with which the human characters decipher the mysteries
surrounding the nymph’s plight and settle on the
strange course of action they must take to speed
her back to her own domain. To add another groaner,
her realm is called the Blue World.
Blue
World would be a good name for the Cove apartment
complex, where dispirited manager Cleveland Heep
(Giamatti) wanders about fixing lights and toilets
while quietly harboring grief over a past tragedy.
Perpetually
bathed in dusky twilight, the Cove is populated
with oddballs and loners, many trying to bury themselves
from the rest of the world.
One
night, Cleveland discovers a nymph, or “narf,” named
Story (Howard) has been living in a chamber beneath
the swimming pool. Story’s from a parallel world
sent to help violent humanity reconnect with its
spiritual, magical side, and Cleveland learns–through
contrived and dubious means–the importance and tactics
of sending her back home.
There
are creatures bound to help her, others that aim
to stop her, and denizens of the Cove have designated
roles to play in Story’s fate. Shyamalan piles it
on like the arbitrary rules of a video game, to
the point where a what‑the‑heck‑is‑going‑on
factor drowns the filmmaker’s attempt to invoke
childlike wonder.
The
real wonder is that the actors are able to maintain
straight faces amid the movie’s preposterousness.
It’s almost worth seeing “Lady in the Water” just
for the warmth and decency Giamatti injects beneath
his character’s bottomless anguish.
Howard,
the sparkling star of Shyamalan’s “The Village,”
is a luminous presence, though she’s never allowed
to stray far from Story’s hushed stoicism.
Generally
taking bit parts in his films, Shyamalan here steps
into a bigger role as a writer with an integral
connection to Story. Given the nature of his character–a
man with momentous things to say about humanity–you’ve
got to wonder if Shyamalan’s trying some myth making
in his real life, with himself starring in his own
fairy tale.
Highlighting
the rest of the supporting ensemble are Sarita Choudhury
as Shyamalan’s sister, Bob Balaban as a standoffish
new tenant, Jeffrey Wright as a crossword‑puzzle
fan, Freddy Rodriguez as a bodybuilder with an unusual
goal, Cindy Cheung as a vivacious student, Bill
Irwin as a shut‑in and Jared Harris as a middle‑aged
slacker.
There
are chills and scary moments, though nowhere near
as many as Shyamalan’s past hits have offered. “Lady
in the Water” is more about mood than menace.
It
would be nice to say “Lady in the Water” is a story
for the kid in all of us. But it should have remained
a story just for Shyamalan’s kids.
“Lady
in the Water,” a Warner Bros. release, is rated
PG‑13 for some frightening sequences. Running
time: 109 minutes. Two stars out of four.
