REALL 2002 V10N09

ew hit movie Signs is a flawed gem. Actually, a badly flawed gem. Director/screenwriter M. Night Shyamalan (pronounced Sha-ma-lon), who has made two previous paranormal films, the popular The Sixth Sense and the less successful Unbreakable, has made a film about corn

Morgan (Rory Culkin), and his brother, Merrill (Joaquin Phoenix), deal with the appearance of a crop circle and subsequent suspicious events. Shyamalan wastes no time in showing the appearance of the intricate crop circle, and he demonstrates a sure director's hand at building up suspense with noise

he grew up in Philadelphia) and elsewhere, followed by hovering space ships seen on TV. (In fact, the director uses TV to convey the development of worldwide news about the appearances of this phenomena.) As the family copes with surviving on the farm in light of speculation that

the farm in light of speculation that the end of the world is near, the expected begins to appear. (Don't read further if you have yet to see the film and want to be surprised.) During this slow exposition of the plot, the meaning of the crop circles becomes clear. They are a sign of a landing site