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1000 words

For your third essay of the semester, I would like you to write a movie review. Choose a movie which interests you, (either an old or new release), watch it at least twice, taking notes as you go along, and prepare a review that touches on a number of the following categories:

1. acting(actors and performances)
2. screen writing(dialogue, believability of plot's premise)
3. theme
4. plot summary (don't give away too much!)
5. key scene or two
6. commentary (philosophical, ironic)
7. visual imagery
8. director/directing
9. intended audience

Feel free to add to the list, should other areas of the movie attract your attention and prove worthy of your comments. It is not necessary to touch upon all items on the list.

In this review it is crucial to remember the function of your thesis: to inform the reader as to your overall opinion about the movie. You may also wish to use the thesis to express something else about the film in addition to whether it is a film that you can or cannot recommend. For example, is the film missin gsomething? Is this film yet another example of Hollywood's obsession with finding new ways to increase its dead body count? Does this film accurately convey the hopes and dreams (or fears) of an entire generation? This kind of thesis is invariably more interesting, and will probably provide you with a way to develop a focused and unified review.

Suggestions: Keep a closer eye on format(organization), sentence structure and mechanics. BE WILLING TO REVISE, IN A MAJOR WAY, YOUR ORIGINAL DRAFT. The essence of good writing is rewriting, and at thi slevel of composition, I am expected polished prose. As always I am available to help you at any stage in the writing process-just stop by my office during my office hours.

Superstitious or not, there have been times when everyone thinks that he is being watched or followed, that he is not all alone. People become so afraid they start thinking of the supernatural forces that could harm them and believing in things that are not there, or are they? Cole Sear, the 8-year-old main character of the movie "The Sixth Sense," couldn-t get people to believe that he saw things people don-t normally see, ghosts that walk around pale and bleeding from their deaths, and this scared the hell out of him. The surrounding suspense mixed with paranoia is what keeps the audience at the edge of their seats. "The Sixth Sense" is perhaps the scariest, yet most thought provoking movie I have ever seen.

The plot revolves around an accomplished child psychologist, Malcolm Crowe, who has just received an award for being the best in his field; however, he realizes later on that he hadn-t been as successful in solving all his patients- problems as he originally thought. An old patient breaks into his house in hysteria, raving about being tormented all throughout his life, and not having been helped by Crowe in their psychiatric sessions. The terrified man, clothed in nothing but his underwear, asked him, "Do you know why people are afraid when they-re alone?" Before Crowe finds out, the man pulls a gun out and shoots Crowe in the stomach, then commits suicide. Crowe is given another chance to make things right for another kid who comes to him appearing to have the same problem as the man who shot himself in his house. He is determined to help him out however he could. Eventually, Crowe gains enough trust from Cole to tell him his problem. Cole whispers to him, "I see dead people." It turns out that no matter where Cole goes, he sees dead people around him who walk around not knowing that they-re dead. They just can-t seem to leave Cole alone. Crowe stays by Cole-s side trying to figure out how to help him, even returning to his old psychological books to find some answer. As a result of having this child-s problem occupying his mind so much, Crowe develops communication problems with his wife. He is unable to spend as much time with her as he would like to. Even at their anniversary dinner, his wife seems to sullenly ignore him because of the neglect she feels. Eventually, they both find unusual solutions to the problems, leading to a twist in the end.

The phenomenal scary effects catalyzed the movie making the audience jump in their seats. Suspense builds as the familiar horror music comes and audience expects something to happen, but they don-t know what it is. In one scene in particular, when Cole wakes up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom really badly but dreading his fate as he walks all alone, the audience knows that he is afraid that he will meet with another of these "walking dead." There is silence as the boy hurriedly relieves himself at the toilet. As the audience holds their breath, there is a loud creak as someone walks past the bathroom. The boy knows that he-s in trouble yet takes a peek in the kitchen. The ghost, pale and bruised from her face down to her whole body, notices him, runs after him with a kitchen knife, and scares him half to death. He scrambles, screaming, to the safety of his mother-s arms. The precise use of silence and sound was able to successfully manipulate the audience-s emotions. Even the make-up on the actors who played the parts of the ghosts Cole saw was superb. They were so believable and realistic that it successfully sends shivers down peoples- spines at first sight of their gory, bleeding, pale bodies with blank expressions on some of their faces and dark circles under their eyes. A great camera trick that the movie used was switching from Cole-s viewpoint to everyone else-s. The audience was able to perceive the ghosts from Cole-s point of view, as well as acknowledge the fact that nobody else saw what Cole saw.

The acting was an integral part of the movie since the expression of the actors- emotions appealed to the audience most. Bruce Willis, who took the part of Malcolm Crowe, the child psychologist, played his part well, conveying a sense of determination and concern even through his fear and confusion. He was able to portray the role of struggling to stay a loving husband while desperately trying to figure out a way to cease poor Cole-s suffering. He showed that his heart pours out for the child, yet he remains helpless, not knowing what to say or do since he was not familiar enough with the child-s situation, and at the same time having to cope with the pain of seeing his wife drifting further and further away from him. The real genius was, however, Haley Joel Osment, the child who played the eight-year-old patient with "the sixth sense." He is believable as a character who overcomes great psychological pressures even through the enormous anxiety and pure fear generated through his circumstance. He becomes a favorite with the audience in the second half hour as a cute and likeable child, where his abilities shine in capturing the essence of a child in psychological turmoil, with the ability to see the disturbing and horrific adversities of murder and suicide.

It was no accident that the character-s last name was Sear. This is probably a reference to the word "seer" which is a wise man, a sage, someone who helps people and serves as a bridge, joining a gap between our reality and that which is beyond our reality. The reason for this significance becomes evident by the end of the movie.

The philosophical aspect is the heart of the story. The movie touches upon subjects such as the concepts of afterlife, fear, and the way society reacts to these situations. It brings up the possibility that reality isn-t really what it seems to be, suggesting that souls that haven-t been laid to rest are still roaming around among us restless in their search for peace. It is a reality check, showing that we really do not know that much about our world wherein anything is possible. The movie tells us that the supernatural, after all, is with us more than we might like to believe.

The movie also shows the effect of paranoia in people-s lives. It questions our perceptions, showing that fear could lead to harmful hallucinations or hallucinations could lead to fear. Because of the fact that society immediately sends people who see or hear things that others do not straight into mental institutions, we are led to question whether they are beguiled or we are.

"The Sixth Sense" is a movie for people who want to face their fears or perhaps dwell in them, a thriller with a philosophical twist. It is a study of the human psyche, delving into depths where people don-t usually go, giving audiences something to ponder even after they leave the theater.

Grade Received: A-