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Actors: Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Cherry Jones, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about Signs |
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Written By M. Night Shyamalan (who is a legend in his own mind), this movie stars Mel Gibson as Graham Hess, a minister who is struggling with his faith after becoming a widower. He lives in Bucks County, Pennsylvania with his brother and children and six months after this personal family crisis a 500 foot crop circle is found in the field behind their house. Similar events are happening around the world. His children think its aliens and his brother Merrill Hess (Joaquin Phoenix) thinks it's pranksters. But they are the markers for an alien invasion fleet with aliens landing very near all the crop circles. Graham pursues the truth about the aliens.
--Bobby Blades, Resident Scholar
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A reverend loses his wife in an accident which causes him to question his faith and quit his job. His kids discover a crop circle in their field. Elsewhere, several other crop circles are appearing. There have also been a few alien encounters throughout the world. The ex-reverend and his family discover that aliens are about to attack, so they band together to survive.
--Jack Bauer, Resident Scholar
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Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's third blockbuster after "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable" involves the response of one farming family to an alien invasion. Graham Hess (Gibson) is a former Episcopal priest who came to doubt his faith and left the church after his wife was killed in a senseless road accident six months before the story takes place. He lives on a Bucks County, Pennsylvania farm with his two kids Morgan (Culkin) and Bo (Breslin), and his younger brother Merrill (Phoenix), a former baseball player who hasn't done much since school. As the story opens, giant crop circles appear in the Hess cornfield. At first, Graham and Merrill think high school boys are playing pranks, but the kids know better. The movie is decidedly low-tech as far as special effects are concerned -- the story pretty much stays on the farm with only occasional glimpses of what's happening around the world via the family TV set -- and it generates a lot of Hitchcockian suspense by classy indirectness rather than in-your-face gore or motion. The real drama is within the family and in Graham's internal battle with his past and beliefs. Gibson is outstanding, and the rest of the cast ain't too shabby. The brooding musical score by James Newton Howard deliberately evokes "Close Encounters," "Psycho," and "The Twilight Zone" theme. An excellent summer movie.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of Signs |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzle - 30%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 60%
**Fantasy or Science Fiction?**
- science fiction story
Explore/1st contact
Yes
Inner Struggle
Yes
Plotlet:
- search for identity/new understanding
Generally friendly 1st contact with aliens?
Yes
Family Relations
Yes
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- religious figure
Age:
- 40's-50's
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Brown)
Hair type
- (man) short/medium straight
Body type
- average (man)
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average intelligence
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (man) short/standard wavy
Body type
- average build (man)
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male Alien
Has special powers?
Yes
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physical condition
- very athletic
How sensitive is this character?
- hard edged
Setting
Earth setting:
- 20th century (1970's to Present)
Takes place on Earth?
Yes
Small town?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
Tone of movie
- fearful
Any profanity?
- Occasional swearing
Kinds of F/X
- exotic aliens
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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