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Unbreakable
Rated
PG-13
Opens Wednesday, Nov. 22.
M. Night
Shyamalan was paid $5 million
for the script to Unbreakable, the highest amount
ever paid for a spec script.
The
Sixth Sense grossed over $500 million worldwide.
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Unbreakable is a thinking person's superhero flick--a
comic-book movie nearly devoid of comic-book elements. No
one dons a mask to protect mankind from subjugation by a maniacal
villain. There are no tights, capes or X-ray vision, and in
fact, there is very little action. But there is a wonderful
sense of adventure--not physical, but psychological and emotional--that
has been missing from nearly every film ever made about people
with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men.
David Dunne (Bruce Willis) is the sole survivor of a train
crash that has left 118 other people dead. Somehow, miraculously,
he has survived without even a scratch. But this isn't the
first time David has survived a horrendous accident, and
as he reflects on his life, he realizes he's never even
been physically sick. It would appear David is "unbreakable."
Emotionally, it's another story. Every day, David wakes
up sad--
he long ago gave up his dreams to please the wife he loves
(Robin Penn Wright), and now his marriage has failed. Into
his life comes Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), an eccentric
comic-book collector with a theory as to why David survived
the train wreck. Elijah suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta--a
degenerative disease that has left his bones prone to breaking.
Having suffered 54 broken bones, Elijah, in essence, is
the opposite of David. More importantly, the comic-book-obsessed
Elijah believes David's existence is part of a higher purpose
and that, in some odd way, the unbreakable man is a superhero.
Without the leaping of tall buildings in a single bound
or the bending of steel with bare hands, Unbreakable
tells the tale of two remarkable men. It's an unconventional
superhero film in that there are no superheroics. Willis
is at his common-man best, playing David Dunne as if he
were a Bizarro World version of Clark Kent who never discovered
he was Superman. Think of Willis' performance in Die
Hard, stripped of all the over-the-top machismo, and
you may begin to scratch the surface of his character. He
is at first confused and distraught at his miraculous survival
in the face of death and, more importantly, skeptical at
Elijah's theory of his superhero abilities. Jackson is wonderfully
eccentric as the man who has spent most of his life bed-ridden,
reading of superhuman exploits. Elijah sees in David all
the things he can never be and all the opportunities he
will never have; but if he can help David come to terms
with the gift he possesses, the fragile man is convinced
it will give both of their lives some greater sense of meaning.
Unbreakable was written, produced and directed by
M. Night Shyamalan, whose Sixth Sense was the sleeper
hit of '99. Shyamalan's latest film will no doubt draw comparisons
to The Sixth Sense--both star Bruce Willis, both
have extraordinary stories grounded within a very ordinary
reality, and yes, both have a surprise ending. But don't
let that stop you. Like the Super Friends defeating the
Legion of Doom, Unbreakable has arrived just in time
to save audiences from the onslaught of mediocre films that
has plagued us for the better part of the new millennium.
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