neumu [ cinematronic ]




	Signs
	M. Night Shyamalan Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, Patricia Kalember 2002		Taking a leap of imagination and connecting a rudiment of science fiction to the notorious mystery of crop circles, writer/director M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense") injects end-of-your-tether anxiety into a stirring contemplation of the nature of faith, the existence of a higher power and the likelihood of messages from beyond. Ex-minister Graham Hess (an effective Mel Gibson), his two young children and his brother (Joaquin Phoenix) discover an enormous design carved into a cornfield on the family's farm in Pennsylvania. Either it's the result of a prank, or something far more earth-shattering has found its way onto the Hess property. Most mainstream motion pictures about extraordinary subjects go for preposterous overkill, but Shyamalan takes an intimate look at sensational occurrences. A crisis of global magnitude is brought right into a rural living room. The film's points are made in very explicit fashion, without taking away from its frights and overall wallop.