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Unbreakable

‘Unbreakable’ is M. Night Shyamalan’s second major motion picture. Following close on the heels of ‘The Sixth Sense’, it is a sad story about two lonely men seeking meaning in their lives. Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, a security guard who emerges as the lone survivor of a disastrous commuter train wreck. Samuel L. Jackson is Elijah Price, a brilliant connoisseur of comic book art, who was born with a genetic disorder that makes his bones so fragile that he is known as Mr. Glass.

Early on, Elijah explains the premise of the movie in a conversation with David. Comic books present mythic stories of good and evil, right and wrong, super hero and super villain. Though rendered in brilliant colors, the artists deliver these concepts of duality in the absolute -- black and white. Surviving the carnage of the train crash, David is the epitome of the broad shouldered, square jawed, good-deed doer. With the word ‘Security’ silk screened across the back of his coat, his physicality is reassuring to the vulnerable and weak. When someone’s in a jam, they look to a man of action to set wrongs right. Elijah on the other hand has suffered all his life. His courage is mental, his strength intellectual.

As each man ponders the meaning of their own existence, we see them juxtaposed -- brain and brawn, health and sickness, action and inaction. Like comic books, the movie uses brilliant color to illustrate character and enhance the plot. Far more stylized that Shyamalan’s other work, ‘Unbreakable’ is ambitious. Elijah’s plight is so heartrending, David’s strength so puzzling. They touch and repel the audience at the same time.

In the end, Shyamalan misses -- but not that much. His reach exceeded his grasp as the poets say. Not many film makers try this hard. I shiver to think of the stories this young man will produce as he matures.

Written by: Joyce Faulkner

Reviewers Rating: 7.5
Reader's Rating: 7.67
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