Review: Unbreakable (2000)

People in the Movie: Bruce Willis, Samuel L Jackson, Robin Wright

Director: M Night Shyamalan

Pigeonhole: Drama / Suspense

The Basics: A man named David Dunn (Willis) walks away, literally unscratched, from a horrible train crash that claimed the lives of everyone else on board.  Soon after this incident, a somewhat strange man named Elijah Price (Jackson) approaches David telling him that he believes David is real life super-hero, like out of a comic book.  David, of course, shrugs off this idea as Price being crazy, but as the story progresses he comes to realize that his everyday life as a security guard was really meant for something different, and that he will soon be set on a different path.

Recommendation: This is very well done film, from the acting, to the story, to the costumes, to the scenes and filming.  It was tense at the right times, dramatic at other points, and I would highly recommend seeing it.  Fans of Shyamalan films (beyond just The Sixth Sense), fans of comics, and fans of the actors should really enjoy this one.  ‘PG-13’ rating is for violence, and violent-borderline-gory images.

My Take: This is a highly underrated film by Shymalan and coming on the heels of his excellent film, The Sixth Sense, audiences and critics likely created higher expectations for Unbreakable than if Sixth Sense had been just above average.  Initially, I thought that the idea of a “real life comic book hero” movie sounded somewhat adolescent, however, it is a very grounded film with very real-life themes.  The hero aspect is an element of note, for certain, but the movie, in my opinion, is more about a man who is in a strained relationship with his wife (for multiple reasons), and still trying to be a dutiful husband, as well as trying to be a good father to their son.  David seems to be struggling with his station in life and it is affecting his family, especially his wife Audrey (Wright) – and all roads eventually lead to the idea that he is, in fact, extraordinary, and that him accepting this fact will let all other things fall into place naturally. 

**spoiler alert** The back story on Elijah is that he was born with a medical condition that his bones are very brittle, so he was unable to play with other kids when he was a child.  His nickname was “Mr. Glass”.  He lost himself in the world of comic books, and now as an adult he owns a high-end comic gallery.  Elijah believes that since he is on one end of a physical spectrum, there must people in the world on the other end of spectrum – super humans- and he has spent some amount time searching for one of these people.  David walking away from the train wreck, of course, drew Elijah’s attention.

David, we learn, was interviewing for a job in New York and on his way back to Philadelphia when the train crashed.  It seems he and his wife are struggling in their relationship; they do not even sleep in the same bedroom.  But we also learn that in the past David gave up a possibly promising football career for his wife, because she hated the violence of it.  David is a security guard, which also intrigues Elijah; that David has an ingrained desire to protect people.  David has a son who looks up to him, and when Elijah informs David and his family about the possibility that David is comic-book-like hero, his son immediately buys into it, much to David and Audrey’s chagrin.    

To disprove Elijah and to attempt to let his son down from the idea he is a hero, David begins “testing” himself but quickly realizes that is extremely strong (a very cool scene), and that through some recollections he does not recall ever having been hurt or injured in his life.  David puts this final touch on his transformation by tracking a man who was holding a family hostage, torturing them, and had murdered the mother.  He frees the kids, and strangles the criminal.  David is also later seen that night reconciling with his wife, as well as “secretly” letting his son know next morning that he is the hero that Elijah had described, and that his son clearly wants to look up to.

The ending – without ruining it I will only say that it is a twist ending, that it fits the film perfectly, and that is yet another reason why I really like this movie, and recommend seeing it.

Final Thoughts/ Extras/ For Fun: Osteogenesis Imperfecta, the condition that Elijah had, is a real but very rare disease… This is reportedly Shyamalan’s favorite film (of his films)…