POCKET FULL OF KRYPTONITE

 By Greg Walton

	There are good surprises and then there are bad surprises.  The

line is usually clear cut - you've inherited a cool million or, the flip

side, you're being audited for disguising it under your imaginary

children's trust fund.  But, heck, that's what makes life (and the movies)

so entertainingly unpredictable.

Every film starts with the optimistic opportunity for surprise, taking a

twist that no one expects despite 100 years of well worn cinematic

storytelling.  That's what made The Sixth Sense so gosh-darn satisfying;

not only was it a story well told, but it had a punchline to boot.

Unbreakable serves up second helping of star Bruce Willis and director M.

Knight Shyamalan, in a tale that concerns equal parts pop spirituality and

comic-book karma.  And while there's an agreeable ghostly vibe akin to

Sense's best moments, the shocking surprise ending is likely to send you

out disappointed, confused, and more than a little ticked off.

David Dunn (Willis) is the sole survivor of a massive train wreck.  Not

only doesn't he have a bruise, scratch or boo-boo, further legwork reveals

he's never been sick a day in his life.  Not once.  Elijah Price (Samuel L.

Jackson) offers up a rather unbelievable explanation.  Elijah, who suffers

from a genetic disease that makes his bones as fragile as twigs, sees in

David his exact opposite...and points to his childhood obsession with comic

books as proof of some higher power at work.

 Shyamalan builds up such a tangible amount of anticipation, with such

elegantly directed style; it's all the more crushing when the reality of

his story begins to crumble.

Unbreakable doesn't just rely on the audience's suspension of disbelief;

its characters are consumed by it as well.  And as the story lurches

progressively past the point of no return, there comes a moment where, like

Willis' character, you can't buy the explanations Shyamalan's selling.

 No one's denying that The Sixth Sense is a tough act to follow.  And

Unbreakable is a suitable successor in many aspects, made up of eerie

silences and carefully composed mis-en-scene set-pieces.  The opening 15

minutes, including a series of show-off shots between train seats, rank

right alongside the best of DePalma, Cassavetes, and the other 70's film

gods.

But as inspired as Shyamalan is behind the camera, his writing suffers from

an odd  blend of immaturity and overconfidence.

To be sure, there's some clever and imaginative moments in Unbreakable but

they're only peripherally entertaining, overwhelmed by a comic book

conventional conclusion that even the most die-hard Superman fan wouldn't

want to read twice.

Grade: C