I see...

...you're back.

Here we go...off on another whirlwind adventure with the AFI Top 100 (10th Anniversary Edition).

Let's just get on with it, shall we?

Film 39

39.  "The Sixth Sense" (AFI Rank #89)

OK.  I HAVE to assume you've seen this film.  If you haven't, and don't know what happens (but want to know), then close this and open it again after you've seen the film.

Released in 1999, M. Night Shyamalan's horror/thriller "The Sixth Sense" featured a twist ending that was actually...a pretty well kept secret by people who saw it.  The internet was not what it is today, and clickbait hadn't taken over our news sources...so, yeah, in 1999, this film, with an ending that requires surprise...was kept for me.  Starring Bruce Willis as Dr. Malcolm Crowe and Haley Joel Osment as Cole Sear (EDIT:  See-er?  Oh, please.  Goddammit.  I hate that I missed that.  Goddammit.  Add this to the "quibbles" below), this film created quite a buzz when it appeared on the scene.  Its inclusion in the list of the top 100 American films of all time is testament to the stir it created...and...to the craft used in creating it.  More on that to come.

I don't recall the first time I saw the film, but I did not, at that viewing, know the ending.  This time through, I did.  I'm fairly certain (meaning COMPLETELY) that this is only the second time I've watched the film in its entirety.  So, what was I watching for this time?  I knew the ending, I knew why everything that was happening was happening, I knew I'd have to write about it today...so what was I watching out for?

Lots and lots of shit.  I was scanning the background of every scene, looking for clues.  Didn't find a whole bunch.  There are few.  One big one, however, is that red is introduced every time Cole is about to interact with a dead person.  All the instances are listed under the "trivia" portion at the IMDB page I linked to above.  Wait.  "I see dead people."  You know that, right?  I don't have to rehash the plot?  Good.  I don't want to.  I also noticed some other things.  There was a scene where Toni Colette, who did an outstanding job playing Cole's mother, is putting stuff away in his room, and we scan the room, and see Cole's drawings.  And all of them have rainbows.  "They don't have meetings about rainbows."  We also, in the same scene, see an out of focus shot of a photograph on Cole's nightstand.  The photograph is of a youngish couple, sitting several feet apart from each other on a couch, in completely different positions.  It is obviously Cole's (since divorced) mother and father.  I think we're supposed to notice the body language in the photo, and I know it wasn't placed there accidentally.  I scanned Dr. Crowe's house for clues.  None besides the obvious ones appeared.

Couple of other things I noticed.  Cole announces that dead people make the room cold when they are angry or upset.  Early on in the film, before Vincent Gray shoots Dr. Crowe and himself, Anna Crowe makes mention of the fact that it is getting cold in the house.  Now, part of that, no doubt, is because of the broken window upstairs that Vincent used to enter the house...but the other part...Vincent probably had a ghost or two hanging around him.  It's subtle, good stuff.  Notice also...the temperature never changes when Crowe is around Cole, as he is never angry or upset.  However, when he realizes he's dead...(there, I did it)...suddenly the room is very, very cold.  As Malcolm comes to terms with what has happened to him, the breath that his widow breathes is less and less visible.  He calms, and the temperature in the room increases.

So.  Horror story about a kid who sees dead people (the "sixth" sense, GET IT?), starring Bruce Willis (not exactly a heavyweight actor - but very, very good here), with a twist ending...what makes it great?  Details, like some that I've outlined above, by M. Night Shyamalan certainly are very, very well executed.  But for me, watching it last night...no.  It's Haley Joel Osment.  He's the reason this film is great, pure and simple.  There is actually kind of a parody of why the film could have sucked within the film, in the character of Tommy Tommasimo.  A lot of child actors might have overplayed the horror, overplayed the desperation of Cole.  Young Mr. Osment paints a great picture, and creates a real kid, struggling with unreal problems.  The way he eats, the way he plays with toys, everything about Cole screams "little kid," yet there is Osment, also showing us the depth and real pain and understanding that children can possess, but that we so often dismiss.  Kids understand a lot, and they are resilient little creatures.  Mr. Rogers used to just tell kids stuff, because he trusted they could handle it.  Dr. Crowe does that with Cole in this film (note the use of the "s word" in a particularly good scene), but more importantly, Haley Joel Osment does.  It's a tremendous performance, one that, looking back on the other nominees for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor that year(Tom Cruise in "Magnolia," Jude Law in "The Talented Mr. Ripley," Michael Clarke Duncan in "The Green Mile" and the winner, Michael Caine, for "The Cider House Rules"), it's hard to picture a performance that will endure as long.  Duncan, maybe, but was that superior to what Osment did here?  I don't think so.  Toni Colette and Osment really shine in this film.  It's odd to see characters so believable with so much unbelievable happening around them...but they nailed it.

I should also mention the brief, terrifying appearance by Donnie Wahlberg.  As a member of The New Kids On The Block, it is easy to dismiss Wahlberg as a talent.  Perhaps Hollywood is capable of churning out great acting from people you'd least expect to do so, but Wahlberg established himself as a formidable actor in this film, and followed through on that promise as Carwood Lipton in the brilliant HBO Miniseries "Band of Brothers."  Wahlberg is chilling here, and it's the kind of performance that makes you sit up and take notice.  We did.

Never afraid to show a shocking, graphic visual at you, this film is incredibly well-crafted, scary, taut, thrilling, well-acted, and...well...just plain terrific.  It really, really is.  I was shocked at how well I enjoyed it this time, knowing everything that was coming.  I think only a great film can do that.  Ergo...this is a great film.

Now, I've got some quibbles.

1.  Cole Sear stuck around the wake after exposing the mother who killed her daughter.  You know what Cole Sear would have been?  FUCKING FAMOUS.  REALLY, REALLY FUCKING FAMOUS.  That father would have made Cole a celebrity.

2.  No way Cole's mom doesn't get freaked out that his homemade tent (safehouse) in his room is full of religious idols.  No way that goes on.  Also...no way that his mom, with the knowledge of the tent's contents, reads the notes Cole left in which he talks about killing...without saying anything about it.  It gets shoved aside in the film, and it just wouldn't happen.  Instead, we are given a talk about a pendant that keeps making its way to Cole's room.  No.  Just no.

3.  Cole pulls out the "Stuttering Stanley" on his teacher...and NO ONE wonders how he know this?

Minor quibbles.  This is a really well-constructed film, and I enjoyed watching it last night.  I'm glad I did, and I'm glad it was on the list so I would.  Perhaps you'd like to, also?

Julie and I watched this together.  Our discussion afterwards centered on the above, mostly.  What a fine film.

The only review Ebert wrote was after his initial viewing of the film.  I wonder what he would have seen had he revisited it?  Anyway, he has similar thoughts about young Mr. Osment.