Ego in the Water

In Lady in the Water, M. Night Shyamalan plays an unassuming writer with ideas so revolutionary that in 50 years -- and through the vessel of a Midwesterner who grew up with books in his home (good luck finding that) -- they will reinvent the world. That Shaymalan plays that role in Shyamalan's own film suggests either that the best filmmaker of this generation is collapsing into a quivering pool of narcissism or that he's not quite sure where to go with himself after such a brilliant start to his career. I really hope it's the latter, although the signs aren't good. It's not that Shyamalan is Tarantino-bad in the acting department, because he's perfectly serviceable as an actor. The question is, how much do you punish the movie for that? Because I did find myself liking Lady in the Water -- in spite of myself. The characters are a little too quirky, the plot a little too fantastic and the female lead a little too helpless.

The question I have is just how Shyamalan got so angry at the film establishment (and if you don't think he's angry, watch who dies in the movie and how). I suppose it's difficult to carry around the mantle of "The Next Hitchcock," but it's better than, say, being a basketball player and carrying around the nickname, "The Next Fennis Dembo." But when people are comparing you to one of the greats, maybe you start believing you have to carry the assurance that comes from being a genius. In addition to making a movie, Shyamalan allowed a writer from Sports Illustrated to follow him around and write about the process of making the movie. It's good to have a vision and believe you are right, but you have to make sure that doesn't crowd out legit critcism. And maybe that's hard to do, especially in Hollywood when everyone is trying to take credit.

Shyamalan, I hope, will pick his spots better in the future. I mean, even Woody Allen finally stopped putting himself in his own movies after a while. And maybe that's a good way to evaluate this issue. But Allen's desire to have people watch him get together with impossibly beautiful women revealed a lot about Allen's character. The spot Shyamalan chose for himself, in his own film, suggests a different kind of wish-fullfillment. As a blogger, I'm certainly not going to come out against self indulgence, and I'm a little scared to criticize Shyamalan for fear he'll send a bloodthirsty CGI grass dog after me. But you can't cast yourself as a genius and look like one at the same time.