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The Village
Movie Stats & Links

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Bryce Dallas Howard, Adrien Brody, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver
MPAA Rated: PG-13
Released By: Touchstone Pictures
Web Site: thevillage.movies.com
Kiddie Movie: It gets pretty scary and there's some quality violence.
Date Movie: She might get scared and hold your hand.
Gratuitous Sex: Nah.
Gratuitous Violence: Some.
Action: Nah, mostly suspense.
Laughs: A couple of chuckles.
Memorable Scene: I liked M. Night's cameo, but I'm weird.
Memorable Quote: Nothing totally stands out.
Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan
Produced By: Scott Rudin, Sam Mercer, M. Night Shyamalan

The Village
A Movie Review

MPAA Rated - PG-13

It's 2:00 Long

A Review by
The Dude on the Right
There’s a corner M. Night Shyamalan has painted himself into, and I think it will take another film or two for the paint to dry so he can leave the room and just be a filmmaker. The corner he is in revolves around the fact that after his first famous films, now everyone goes to his movies trying to figure out the so-called "twist" rather than immersing themselves in the great storyteller and movie director that M. Night has become. A lot of people are complaining that they saw the ending coming for "The Village," that they weren’t really surprised by it, and you know what, I saw it coming too, but rather be shocked that I figured it out, I sat back, enjoyed M. Night’s great filmmaking, and just tried to figure out how he was going to put himself in a cameo which has really become his signature for me.

Anyway, "The Village" gives us a group of people living in this valley surrounded by woods. The elders in the village, led by William Hurt as Edward, have made a truce with the creatures, which I would have called something cool like "Red Dragons" or maybe "Red Devils," but instead they just refer to them as "Those We Don’t Speak Of." Pretty much the truce is "We won’t go in your woods and you stay out of our village. Oh, and we won’t use the color red anywhere and will wear these yellow robes sometimes." But there is trouble brewing, namely with the death of one of the youngster villagers, which Lucius (Joaquin Phoenix) believes could have been saved if they could make their way through the woods to one of the towns outside the area and nab some medicine. Lucius believes the creatures would be able to feel that he isn’t entering the woods to hurt them, that he has good in his heart, and he asks the elders if he can go, but they shoot him down.

Alright, blah, blah, blah. Do to some circumstances not to be named so as not to give too much away, Lucius ends up injured just as he is about to get down with Ivy (Bryce Dallas Howard in a screen debut that shows she will be around for a while). Ivy is distraught, but Dad Edward knows that if Ivy can get through the woods, and make it back, well, she could get the medicine needed so Lucius can be saved. Here’s the catch – Ivy is blind. Does Ivy make it through the woods? Does Ivy make it back from town? Will Lucius be okay? How will M. Night fit a man from India into a movie that’s set in the late 1800’s in Pennsylvania? Will you jump out of your seat when, ah, never mind.

Look, "The Village" is a decent suspense film, and yes, you might figure out the ending before the ending. So what, it happens all of the time. Just sit back and enjoy the story and fantastic performances by a cast also includes the likes of Adrien Brody, Sigourney Weaver, and M. Night.

I really liked the village, did get surprised by some things, and enjoyed M. Night’s cameo. That’s all I ask from the man, and he keeps delivering. It’s 4 ½ stars out of 5 for "The Village."

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

 

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