Review: Unbreakable

The whole of the film is less than the sum of its parts, but the parts are often breathtakingly shot.

Unbreakable
Photo: Buena Vista Pictures

In M. Night Shyamalan’s spiritually provocative Unbrekable, Bruce Willis plays David Dunn, a seemingly blessed individual that has walked away unscathed from a horrifying train accident. A note on his car’s windshield leads him to a mysterious man named Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), key figure in Dunn’s road to self-actualization. In his journey to discover the reason why he survived the train wreck, David comes to terms with his past and an internal secret that positions him as a messiah to the world around him. Though it’s not until film’s end that David and Elijah’s roles as opposing forces in a new legion of superheroes becomes clear, Shyamalan’s comic-book metaphors figure prominently throughout. One of the great joys of watching Unbreakable is how carefully it unravels, not unlike a classic comic book. This could easily be the story of how Lex Luther exploited Superman’s powers to his advantage. The whole of the film is less than the sum of its parts, but the parts are often breathtakingly shot.

Score: 
 Cast: Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright, Charlayne Woodard, Eamonn Walker, Leslie Stefanson, Spencer Treat Clark  Director: M. Night Shyamalan  Screenwriter: M. Night Shyamalan  Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures  Running Time: 106 min  Rating: PG-13  Year: 2000  Buy: Video, Soundtrack

Ed Gonzalez

Ed Gonzalez is the co-founder of Slant Magazine. A member of the New York Film Critics Circle, his writing has appeared in The Village Voice, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications.

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