3. Signs (2002)
“Merrill Hess”
The early 2000s really saw Joaquin Phoenix hitting his stride and his back-to-back performances in M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs and The Village can attest to his blooming popularity. Though the latter film was a massive disappointment and the start to a perpetual descent into Shyamalan’s hack-dom, Signs shows the director holding onto his last ounce of quality before becoming the punchline to every plot-twist related joke. Co-starring a not-yet-racist Mel Gibson, Signs is the perfect example of a how to excellently build tension throughout an entire film and then completely throw it all away for a cop out ending that deserves nothing but a palm directly to the viewer’s forehead. While Shyamalan’s faults are not dismissible, the film is closer to the strength of The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable as opposed to his later projects. What made the earlier films so prime, in addition to the well-written narrative and thoughtfully conceived twists that Shyamalan became so recognized for, were the noticeably compelling lead performances. Gibson and Phoenix do what Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, and Samuel L. Jackson did before them and elevate Shyamalan’s supernatural stories to a different level with their charismatic and human performances. While it was a major stepping stone for Phoenix, Signs also shows Mel Gibson at an undeniable best. It’s the kind of performance that made him famous in the 80s and that we have not seen from him since this film. Signs marked the end of an era for Gibson and Shyamalan, but thankfully kept Joaquin Phoenix on a ceaseless rise.
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