Action!: The Campy, The Violent and The Plot Twist — Its a Plot Twist! The Shyamalan Chronicles

From the title and the poster, one could be fooled into thinking that this film has something to do with sports and that Rosie has a starring role, but none of this is true. We instead get an almost existentialist coming-of-age narrative about a child who is grieving after the loss of his beloved grandpa, something that will cause him to question this beloved figure and God among other things.

M Night Shyamalan would explore and flesh out these themes much better in his following feature films, The Sixth Sense and Signs, however he does a reasonably good job playing with them here, even though he still hasn't found the right tone. What we got in this case was a movie that abruptly shifted from a quirky kids flick to something darker and much more mature. There is a lack of balance in the movie, which makes it feel strange and shaky, ruining what could be a good story. Our lead actor, while not bad, seems to sleep throughout the entire film, which doesn't help in a film that demands joy.

All in all, it offers a lot of interesting ideas, some good camera work, and good performances, although it always seems to lack potential.

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