Signs
released 2002
www.ink2quill.com

“Signs” is an American, scifi, horror film written, directed and produced by M. Night Shyamalan and is one of his masterpieces. Other producers are Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall and Sam Mercer. It stars Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin, Cherry Jones, M. Night Shyamalan, Patricia Kalember, Ted Sutton, Meritt Wever, Lanny Flaherty, Marion McCorry, Michael Showalter, Kevin Pires, Clifford David, Rhonda Overby, Greg Wood, Paul L. Nolan, Ukee Washington, Babita Hariani, Adam Way, Jose L. Rodriguez, Paul Wilson, Thomas Griffin and Angela Eckert.

Signs IMDb webpage

“Signs” Is the story of former Episcopal priest Graham Hess, played by Mel Gibson, who losses his faith from the accidental death of his wife and the regaining of that faith. Graham and his family live on a farm with a big void in their lives from the loss of his wife. Her absence is an open wound that only begins to heal at the end of the film. He is an angry and emotionally exhausted man. His brother Merrill, a failed major league baseball player, played by Joaquin Phoenix, lives with them and helps out. Large crop circles appear in their corn fields and a strange tale of an alien invasion unfolds.

“Signs” is a very good film, one of M. Night Shyamalan´s best, for the way the story unfolds. All of the characters are flawed, unpretentious and likable. They all have reasons to be angry with life, especially Graham, but their flaws end up being advantages as the story progresses in unpredictable directions. The way Merrill was known for swinging at anything in his baseball career and how that failure in athletic judgment turned out to be an advantage when things really mattered was a great touch to the story. This is a horror film but is not overly gruesome and it does not rely on gore and violence to drag viewers to their seats. It doesn´t take place in the flashy neighborhoods of a big city but in middle America. This film shows how the flaws of any person does not make them any less important in the lives of others and their community.

“Signs” is as much the story of an alien invasion as it is about a man healing from great loss. It is as much the story of a man losing an important part of his life as it is rebuilding a new one and making his life whole again. I loved the mystery of the film. The way M. Night Shyamalan kept us guessing was brilliant.

This is good scifi folks because it´s a good story that keeps us guessing. So check it out. It´s dated but good.

John

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