Signs (2002)

There was a point in the past where M. Night Shyamalan was considered a director of quality films and Mel Gibson a bankable, perfectly sane actor.  Those days are past for both men, with Shyamalan making a series of films that at the very most seem to have impressive trailers, and Gibson being relegated to straight-to-DVD features since being outed as an anti-Semite and possibly a misogynist.  When the cast of The Hangover II prevent Gibson from giving their movie a cameo due to his past actions while convicted rapist Mike Tyson doesn't warrant so much of a peep, that's not good.

But that's the present.  The past had both men working together to give the world Signs.

In terms of where this is for Shyamalan, it's probably safe to say that he's reaching the end of his credibility as a filmmaker here.  The guy was known for his plot twists, most notably in The Sixth Sense, and to a lesser extent Unbreakable, but has since become the guy who made a movie about killer trees and having a fairy tale creature declare a character played by himself will write a story that will change the world.  Signs, with its alien-invasion-foiled-by-water scenario somehow manages not to get there.  Yes, as Cracked.com has pointed out these aliens might have been more successful if they'd just managed to invent pants, or maybe the raincoat, but that's not the issue.  Bruce Willis being dead the whole time is less shocking since the clues are all there.What Signs has going for it instead is simply that Shyamalan manages to keep things moving well enough that maybe the viewer doesn't notice the whole water thing during the movie.  It can strike later, surely, but the movie has a good deal of suspense going for it, good pacing, and a good score, all to keep the viewer off-balance.

It also helps that the movie is more about one man's faith than it is about the aliens.  These days it would impossible not to know Mel Gibson is a very...devout man.  The Passion of the Christ is proof enough of that.  Having him play a man struggling with his own faith after the very freaky death of his wife is something else.  Gibson is capable of a great deal of onscreen charisma, so it's easy to get wrapped up in his problems.  Round out the cast with Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, and Abigail Breslin and you have a fairly potent core cast.

The movie is far from perfect, obviously.  Future Shyamalan problems are cropping up here.  He gives himself a small but crucial role to pass along important information, and no matter how wrapped up you are in the movie, that water thing will eventually get back to you.  Still, its a mild, fun ride that can hold the viewer's interest (maybe) long enough to tell its story, and that may be all that matters for a filmmaker like Shyamalan.