Lady in the Water **
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright, Sarita Choudhury, Freddy Rodriguez, Bill Irwin, Jared Harris, M. Night Shyamalan
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Running Length: 1:52
MPAA Classification: PG-13

Cleveland Heep (Giamatti) is a superintendent in an apartment complex. He takes pride in his work, and seems to know everyone pretty well. One night, he discovers a stranger swimming in the apartment’s pool. Her name is Story (Howard), and she is a narf. It seems that she has come from the Blue World to provide enlightenment to one man before returning home. Making things difficult is the Scrunt, a grass-covered wolf creature that wants to stop her. According to an Asian fairy tale, there are others who will help her, and Cleveland attempts to locate them in the apartment complex. But, when the Scrunt attacks, it may be too late, and Story might not accomplish her task.

“Lady in the Water” was a bit of a disappointment for me. I found it to be a bit on the silly side, with its narfs, scrunts, and even tartutics. It tries to have a point, but it is somewhat lost amonst the goofiness of the story. Paul Giamatti does the best he can with what he is given, creating a very real character that is likeable. Bryce Dallas Howard’s Story is unremarkable, and even somewhat boring. M. Night Shyamalan does a decent job as an actor, having cast himself in a bigger role in this movie. In the end, it does not quite work for me. Shyamalan has misstepped here, making perhaps his weakest film to date. On the heels of “The Village”, that is not a good thing. He has some serious rebuilding to do with his next film.