Lady in the Water

At The Cove Apartment Complex, there's someone living in the pool. And she's all alone, terrified of something living in the grass. A chance meeting, when she's caught in the pool by Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatii) the caretaker of the complex, propels us into the realm of children’s stories as we come to know this mysterious girl. The girl introduces herself as Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) and she has a mission to complete: to be seen by the one person who is chosen for her; and seeing this person will spark change in the world. Assisted by the colorful tenants of The Cove, Cleveland searches for this chosen person in order to help her fulfill her destiny.

This haunting tale is rich with emotion, assisted beautifully by Giamatti and Howard, who each give knock-out performances. Assisting Giamatti and Howard is a brilliant cast with Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright, Bill Irwin, Sarita Choudhury, Freddy Rodriguez and featuring M. Night Shyamalan, in his usual cameo appearance; this one being the longest. I am drawn to feel with Cleveland in his loss and also in the hope that Story draws out of him. James Newton Howard's haunting and powerful score breeds an ease to surrender to the mystery of the tale engaging the audience in Story's mission.

Impressive is Sarita Choudhury and Shyamalan's chemistry as brother and sister. I really believe that they are brother and sister. When Vick asks Story if his writing would eventually spark his assassination, his concern is for her and I empathize, being a sibling myself. I also thoroughly enjoyed the smoking guys; they are the perfect snapshot of apartment life. I just met my neighbors last night, and I can tell you these guys are a perfect representative of the quirkiness of apartment life. As is Cindy Cheung's Young-Soon Choi, also a knockout performance, I enjoyed her completely.

But of all the talent which is spot on, it's Shyamalan's pen and revealed vision which touches me. The theme of purpose is especially potent. As nobody in this life knows who they are and what effect they, as individuals, will apply to history, we must live our lives with meaning and touch the lives around us every day, every moment, and cherish our own lives with hope. Cleveland's sorrow has masked his life and clouded his purpose and destroyed his hope, until he's forced to confront his life and release the hope hidden deep in his soul, restoring his purpose. The package is what makes this film so beautiful, the direction, characters, plot and score; it's catharsis is released every time this film crosses a screen raising the goosebumps on the back of my neck and shoulders, stopping my heart, weighing my breath and glistening my eyes. Films like this come along so rarely for me (when a film raises and completely captures my emotions to the level of tears due to its beauty) that I am inspired to believe some stories are true, which allow me to feel like a child again.


****

In: Bob Balaban

Out: Paul Giamatti

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