The Sixth Sense (1999)

            Starring eleven year old Haley Joel Osment and Bruce Willis, The Sixth Sense is a chilling movie about a young boy that can see dead people. The boy is in the care of his single mother and is relentlessly teased for being weird by other kids at school. Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a well-known child psychologist is attempting to understand the boys problem and help him. However, Crowe finds this difficult because there has been strain on his marriage recently and he doesn’t know how to fix it. After the boy admits to being haunted by the dead, Dr. Crowe relates him to a boy he once tried to help with the same problem. This boy broke into the doctors home and shot Crowe as well as himself. In order to prevent the same fate from Cole, Crowe looks back on his old files and discovers how Cole can get rid of the ghosts. Simply by listening to them and helping them he can allow the ghosts to pass through the earth and leave life behind peacefully. Unknowingly Cole helps Dr. Crowe sort out the problems in his marriage and it is revealed that Crowe has been dead since Vincent shot him in the beginning of the movie. This incredible twist changes the entire movie around.

            The acting job by Haley Joel Osment was incredible. I found myself in tears by the end. Osment was rightfully nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. There was undeniable chemistry between Osment and Willis as well as Osment and his on screen mother Toni Colette. The cinematography in this movie was on par with the other films I’ve seen this spring. Directed by M. Night Shyamalan, the movie I characterized as a “scary movie,” but I found myself more emotional than spooked by the end of it. The shock element was not overused and the number of scary moments was not excesive. The gore was kept relatively to a minimum and it was more about the relationship between the boy and his mother and the boy and his doctor. The shocking end was surprising and exciting. I would recommend this movie highly. I usually hate scary movies but I thought this was tastefully done. This movie is definitely one of my favorites I’ve seen this spring.