Movie: Lady in the Water

I know this movie got very mixed reviews. I know the people that hated it, REALLY hated it, and the people that liked it, REALLY liked it. Put me in the latter camp.

I absolutely adored this movie.

The basic plot: Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep (as portrayed by Paul Giamatti) rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains (Bryce Dallas Howard, who was the blind girl in “The Village”). When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.

True to M. Night Shyamalan’s cinematic history, this is a slowly moving, languidly told movie based on a bedtime story he made up for his kids. And much like “The Sixth Sense” (and unlike the abominable “Unbreakable” or awkward “Signs”), you hang on the edge of your seat in this wonderful tale.

4 cereal boxes out of five.