Lady in the Water

What if a wolf sat outside of your home and attempted to blow it down with you inside of it? Or if you came home and found your food eaten, furniture destroyed and a runaway girl sleeping in one of your beds? Writer/director/actor M. Night Shyamalan explores the idea of real world intersecting with a fairy tale in his current movie, "Lady in the Water".

The movie centers on an old apartment complex in Pennsylvania and its overworked superintendant, Cleveland Heep. When he discovers a young woman named Story who lives underneath the complex's pool, he opens a world where there is a true damsel in distress and a menacing woodland creature that's after her.

As a writer, I enjoyed this movie because Shyamalan, as only he can do, mixed dialogue, an inventive plot and colorful characters. You feel for Cleveland. You root for him and hope for the best for Story, who pulls Cleveland out of his shell while revealing very little about herself, her world or her quest.

As a movie goer, this movie had a deeper message that may have been lost to viewers looking to be scared out of their minds. Although there were a couple of scenes that made me jump and turn away in anticipation of what was about to happen, this movie is no gore-fest. Just like a fairy tale, there is a moral or lesson to be learned. However, the audience is asked to make giant leaps to accept parts of the premise and that's where Shyamalan may have lost them.

I recommend that you watch this one with friends. You may never look at your lawn or an overgrown grassy field the same way again.