Search - Lady in the Water [Widescreen] on DVD

Lady in the Water [Widescreen]

Actor(s): Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright, Bob Balaban, Sarita Choudhury
Director(s): M. Night Shyamalan
153

Movie Details

MPAA Rating: PG-13
Content Advisory: Violence
Movie Release: 2006
DVD Release: 12/19/2006
Format: DVD - Color,Soft-Matted WSE for 16x9 TV
Edition: Dual Layered
Audio Tracks: English, French, Spanish
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
SwapaDVD Credits: 1
Number of Discs: 1
Run Time: 1 hrs 49 mins
Studio: Warner Home Video
Total Copies: 61
Genres: Fantasy, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Supernatural Drama
See Also: Lady in the Water [Fullscreen], Lady in the Water [HD DVD], Lady in the Water [Blu-ray], Lady in the Water [HD DVD]

DVD Synopsis

M. Night Shyamalan writes and directs this self-proclaimed, grown-up "bedtime story" about an apartment building superintendent named Cleveland (Paul Giamatti) who discovers a magical sea-nymph named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) who's been transported to this world and is living in the building's own swimming pool. As this bizarre revelation sinks in, Cleveland becomes enraptured by her other-worldly charm. As he shelters her in his apartment, other inhabitants of the building begin falling into place as representations of characters from an Eastern myth in which these mermaids, or "narfs," co-exist unhappily with more beastly and violent characters. In human reality, the forces of darkness that threaten the heroes of a fairy tale prove to be much more terrifying, and the victory of good over evil is by no means guaranteed. Jeffery Wright, Jared Harris and Mary Beth Hurt co-star, as well as Shyamalan himself, playing the visionary writer Vick. ~ Cammila Albertson, All Movie Guide

Actors

Paul Giamatti - Cleveland Heep
Bryce Dallas Howard - Story
Jeffrey Wright - Mr. Dury
Bob Balaban - Harry Farber
Sarita Choudhury - Anna Ran

Member Movie Reviews

Dawn W. from GREENWICH, OH wrote on 12/5/2008...

1 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

We rented this movie from the library and am very thankful it was available for free rental because I would have been upset with myself if I had purchased it or even wasted credits having it delivered via swap.

It is worth watching .. once with a bit of mystery to keep you until the end wondering who will play all the parts lad out by the tale told (piece by piece) throughout the whole movie.

Once this movie reveals it's secrets - it is dry and doesn't have the flow or build up of characters that it could have had to make the story a good one.

Barbara S. (gallagirl) from GLOVERSVILLE, NY wrote on 7/12/2008...

1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Not what i thought it would be, A really wonderful fairytale for teens and adults.

Jeff V. (burielofmel) from HARRIMAN, TN wrote on 3/12/2008...

4 of 10 member(s) found this review helpful.

I couldn't believe how bad this thing was. How did this movie ever get made? I loved Sixth Sense, Signs, and count Unbreakable as one of my favorite films. The Village wasn't all that great but it was watchable. This, wow, I just don't know how Night got a film company to give him money to make this.

CRAP. PURE CRAP.

Jason C. (JJC) from NEWARK, NJ wrote on 12/14/2007...

1 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

With "The Sixth Sense", "Unbreakable" and "Signs", I thought M. Night Shyamalan couldn't do any wrong; a gift to the genre. I mean even with "The Village", you could see a creative mind was at work. The problem with "The Village" though, was that it was marketed as a horror film and it clearly was nothing of the sort.

"Lady in the Water" is marketed as a bedtime story, which is precisely what the film is; but I think the building of the story was just too silly.

"Lady in the Water" follows the story of Cleveland Heep (a terrific Paul Giamatti), a meek, busy-body who is the super of an apartment complex in Philadelphia. Occupying the spaces there are quite an ensemble cast of characters including a arrogant writer/film critic (Bob Balaban), a young bodybuilder only building up one side of his body (Freddy Rodriguez), an anti-social fuddy-duddy (Bill Irwin), a struggling writer and his giddy sister (M. Night himself & Sarita Choundry), a cross-word puzzle extroadinaire (Geoffrey Wright) and a bunch of smoking socialites (led by Jared Harris).

But everyone's life is about to change when Cleveland encounters a young woman who mysteriously appears in the complex swimming pool. She goes by the name of Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) who comes from "The Blue World." She is trying to reach a sanctuary, however she will need the help of certain tenants which she can't individually label. So the mystery ensues, but M. Night does a silly job of unraveling the mystery, as we are forced to deal with Heep getting info from an oriental woman who is relaying info from her mother who miraculously knows the story of The Blue World. Most of the clues are solved by monotonous and tedious interpretation.

"Lady in the Water" is a very interesting film, but even for a fantasy, the unwrapping of the clues is so silly, it borders on a bad film. But I understand what M. Night was trying to do, but there are so many other elements he could've used. All in all, it's still a cool story...it's just hard to swallow, the way it was executed.