Plot
Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. 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.
Release Year: 2006
Rating: 5.7/10 (55,064 voted)
Critic's Score: 36/100
Director:
M. Night Shyamalan
Stars: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jeffrey Wright
Storyline Cleveland Heep, a stuttering apartment superintendent, encounters a girl named Story swimming in the complex's pool. He soon learns that she comes from the Blue World, and has a message for mankind. Will he be able to help her complete her mission?
Cast: Paul Giamatti
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Cleveland Heep
Bryce Dallas Howard
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Story
Jeffrey Wright
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Mr. Dury
Bob Balaban
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Harry Farber
Sarita Choudhury
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Anna Ran
Cindy Cheung
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Young-Soon Choi
M. Night Shyamalan
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Vick Ran
Freddy Rodríguez
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Reggie
Bill Irwin
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Mr. Leeds
Mary Beth Hurt
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Mrs. Bell
Noah Gray-Cabey
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Joey Dury
Joseph D. Reitman
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Long Haired Smoker
Jared Harris
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Goatee Smoker
Grant Monohon
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Emaciated Smoker
John Boyd
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One-Eyebrow Smoker
Taglines:
A Classic Bedtime Story For A New Generation
Opening Weekend: $18,044,396
(USA)
(23 July 2006)
(3235 Screens)
Gross: $42,285,169
(USA)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Director Trademark:
[M. Night Shyamalan]
[self]
Acting in his movies. His character, "Vick Ran", is a reference to Vikram Seth, an Indian author.
Goofs:
Continuity:
In the apartment just after Cleveland rescues Story, we see Story talking to Cleveland. From Story's perspective she is looking directly over her knees which are closed towards Cleveland. It would appear she is sitting normally on the sofa. From Clevelands perspective, she is looking to the right of her slightly apart knees, and sitting length-ways on the sofa.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Cleveland Heep:
Once, man and those in the water were linked. They inspired us. They spoke of the future. Man listened and it became real. But man does not listen very well. Man's need to own everything led him deeper into land. The magic world of the ones that lived in the ocean...
User Review
I know I am in the minority here, but I enjoyed it
Rating: 8/10
First off, I can see why this film is going to be a box-office flop and
why critics and audiences alike will not like it. I, who usually
disagrees with most audiences, at least, thoroughly enjoyed this film.
The storyline itself is rather ridiculous, I must say. Some girl shows
up in a pool? She's a what-a narf? I went into the movie thinking I
would hate it, but I came out knowing that I had seen a work of art.
That's right. It was art.
First of all, it's a good family film, with enough tense moments to
keep you watching, and enough laugh-out-loud moments to calm you down.
It was refreshing for once to see a film with good, clean humour. The
dialogue was not necessarily hilarious, but the actors, especially Paul
Giamatti (Cleveland) delivered the lines extremely well.
The acting was tremendously well done also. Paul Giamatti is always
fantastic, and while Bryce Dallas Howard seemed to act in the same
manner as she did in The Village, she was still convincing. The
ensemble cast worked well together. Some might bash M. Night for
casting himself in a not-so-cameo role, but he proved that he can
actually act! No, his performance will not win him an Oscar, nor should
it, but I think there is definite talent there. I hope to see him in
bigger roles, in films not his own.
The plot had many twists, maybe too many, but no matter. I kept trying
to guess what was going to happen, but it I was always wrong. It was
quite interesting.
What most made this film a work of art was the directing. M. Night has
a rare talent that will go completely under the radar for this film
because no one will see it. The camera angles were inventive-that's
right, inventive. I may be one of the few who actually cares about
camera angles and how a scene looks, but it looked great. The final
product was polished.
I truly believe this film is M. Night's best work. He made the story up
himself, wrote a screenplay that made us laugh, smile, cringe, and jump
just a little, and directed a great ensemble cast including himself.
Quite a feat.
So before everyone starts ranting about how stupid the storyline is or
how "so-not-scary" the film is, just appreciate the uniqueness of the
film, and remember what makes this film good. Forget the crazy story.
It's everything else!
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