5,400th Post Celebration: The Sixth Sense (1999)

 How do I celebrate another Milestone Number of Posts?

How about the most famous Film in the History of Film Twists?
Sounds good.

The Sixth Sense is a 1999 Film that made M. Night Shyamalan into a big-name Director.
That would surely last forever!

The Film is about a young man who is troubled.  Can a psychologist help him?  Will his secret be too much to bear?

The Movie was nominated for six Oscars.  It didn't win any.
Sorry, Mr. Night.

Does the Film hold up after all of these years?  To find out, read on...

A man (Bruce Willis) is celebrating winning an Award for his psychology work at home with his Wife.

A former Patient breaks in, shoot Willis and then himself.

The Film then cuts to 'Next Fall' (so a year from this point or did this part take place in Spring?) and we follow a kid (Haley Joel Osment) who is considered to be a 'freak.'

I suppose him looking at anyone that way would give that impression.

Willis starts to talk to him and treat the kid, although he doesn't do it in actual Sessions.

You think he'd have an Office, but...oh right, I don't know that part yet.

After a good forty minutes of not much happening save for World Building, we get Osment's big line.

He finally reveals that he can 'see dead people.'

Of course, if you ask the Internet, this is the really famous one.

Willis finally gives the good some good advice.

Help the Ghosts.

It is easier said than done.

Speaking of easy, it was easy to get Willis on-board.  He owed the Studio for a never completed Film.

This is put to the test when a scary girl ghost (Mischa Barton) appears to Osment.

However, she shows him the truth and he reveals it to the Father.

The Mom was poisoning her- suffering from Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome- and she died from it.

He's finally able to convince his Mom that he sees Ghosts as well, with a story about Grandma that he couldn't know about.

Speaking of convincing, we get the big twist- Willis finally realizes that he was a Ghost this whole time, since he died from the gunshot.

He gets closure from helping Osment and disappears.

The End.

A Film that mostly holds up really well.

Here's the big thing right off the bat- the Film is only sometimes a 'Thriller.'  More often than not, it is a dry, terse Drama full of long, deep conversations.

Once we learn about the Ghosts being a thing, some good scares occur and even more subtle ones (like the Charred Actress before the Play).

The Film has gained this amazing reputation for its twist and, honestly, it definitely cheats a lot!
We see just enough of Willis to not make it super obvious (even if we never see him use a door), but it is hard to believe that his Character couldn't figure it out.

Was he such a jerk that nobody ever talked to him when he was alive?

Speaking of his death, did the Wife not call 911?  That gunshot wound looked bad, but survivable.
They were in Philadelphia- help was available!

If you're going to watch this now, you most likely know the twist.  As such, watch it for a rare show of Willis genuinely emoting and giving a shit (especially compared to Glass).

Osment is really, really good here too.

Just don't expect some amazing, tense Thriller all the time and you can enjoy yourself.

A Film with this amazing reputation and that made a Director.  It's still pretty darn good, even if you know the twist and all.