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flick pick | Unbreakable 2000 Directed + written by: M. Night Shyamalan Starring: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson Language: English Look for it at the video store under: drama Watch it when you’re in the mood for something:  mind-bending  The critic says: / 5 the rating system explained Fun factor: ½/ 5

Plot synopsis Football stadium security guard David Dunn is just an ordinary guy, maybe a little sadder than most, with a rocky marriage and a strained relationship with his son. He’s coming back home to Philadelphia after an interview for a job in New York when his train suddenly derails. Everyone on board is killed, but David, miraculously, walks away unscathed. No broken bones, not even a scratch … the doctors are mystified by how he’s survived. One man, however, thinks he might have an explanation. Elijah Price, owner of an upscale art gallery that specializes in limited edition comic book artwork, proposes a seemingly far-fetched theory: that David, like the real-life version of the more exaggerated superheroes found in comic book mythology, has an unusual gift that makes his body stronger than most, impervious to the normal human pains and illnesses. Elijah, who suffers from a rare disease that makes his bones fragile as glass, sees a connection between himself and David: the two are simply opposite ends of the same spectrum. David promptly dismisses Elijah as a wacko … then begins to notice some extraordinary things about himself.

Review I’m a big fan of comic books – in theory, that is. I love the concept of superheroes vs. supervillains; I adore the mythology and the dramatic visuals. But I still have a hard time actually reading a comic book. They require a bit more suspension of disbelief than I’m willing to give. Which is pretty much how I felt about Unbreakable when I first saw it in the theatre. I liked the film’s slow-moving moodiness; I loved Bruce Willis’ sad-eyed everyman slowly pondering the possibility that he might be destined for more. But the trademark Shyamalan surprise ending just seemed implausible, and out-of-place in a movie that looks more like a realistic drama than the usual sort of comic-book-inspired action thriller. The argument that ensued between my boy and myself – was it clever or ridiculous? – made me realize that this was one movie I disliked that nonetheless merited a second viewing. So we rented the DVD. What really struck me on take two was what a fantastic job Shyamalan and cinematographer Eduardo Serra do of painting the world of Unbreakable as a comic book world, framing it in multi-perspective, beautifully tight compositions straight out of the kind of comic books Elijah Price collects with such a passion. The colors, too, are comic book-inspired – big gorgeous blocks of rich blue, red, yellow, green punctuating vast expanses of darkness. It’s a very clever way to reinforce the film’s premise, that comic books are based on real world stories. In the end, I’m still not entirely convinced that I like Unbreakable’s final scene – its melodrama ruins the beautiful sense of quiet atmosphere that pervades the rest of the film -- but I have to concede this: Shyamalan sets us up for the revelation, subtly but with a sure hand, the whole way through. —reviewed by Yee-Fan Sun

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