Positive Experience/Entertaining? I have to admit my M. Night bias–I hate the guy’s films. Putting that bias aside, based on the trailer I’d have to say this movie has an interesting premise but has the potential to be total crap as much as it could be great.

Technically any good? Well, the trailer is cut and sound-mixed to feel just like every other trailer out there for a thriller, so it’s hard to judge how technically good the film will be. I can say that I think Bryce Dallas Howard is a pretty good actor (despite her lineage :D ) and Paul Giamatti is someone I’d bear children for so expect good performances from them if nothing else. Well, this excuses M. Night’s requisite “cameo.” Will someone please tell this guy to take acting lessons before he shows up in anyone’s film? I’d like to see him appear in a film as a pompous film director who is convinced he’s a good actor.

How did it leave me feeling? Ultimately, M. Night movies end up being all glitz and no guts for me. The big “twist” ending of Sixth Sense was not that Bruce Willis was dead all along but that the film maker had been conveniently leaving out a crucial plot point that could and should have been more creatively omitted (see: the 8 episodes of Twilight Zone that did this premise better). The big twist of The Village I worked out before a friend even finished describing the trailer to me (which I had yet to see). In short, I’m not expecting to be thrilled by this film, though I expect the average American moviegoer to not know any better.

Final Rating? RTV (Rent The Video)

This film opens July 21, 2006