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Reconsider Me: M. Night Shyamalan's SPLIT

 James McAvoy, Betty Buckley, Ana Taylor Joy. Dir. M. Night Shyamalan, Universal, 2016


My phone, my only link to the online world, went sideways last Saturday, the screen blanked out as if stuck in charging mode. It took until today to figure out how to get it working, but I spent all last weekend watching more movies in my Unwatched/Unfinished pile and re-watching a few I hadn't seen since I got them. These include: SHE WORE A YELLOW RIBBON, ROB ROY, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, KEOMA, SPLICE, THE BIG LEBOWSKI, and M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN's SPLIT.

Reading some of the Film Twitter discourse surrounding the release of Shyamalan's OLD interested me, particularly the point that changing Shyamalan's surname to "Shyama-lama-ding-dong" is racist. I worry that we toss that word out there too easily, but I have to admit that I've never done similar to a white filmmaker. I've never goofed on Spielberg's name, nor Scorsese's, nor John Ford's. I further confess my initial resistance to the R-word owed in no small part to my having made the "Shyama-lama-ding-dong" back in '99, when THE SIXTH SENSE was released. I'd love to say I stopped quickly because I got hip to my racism, but while I did stop soon after starting it's because the wannabe shock jocks on Clear Channel rock stations started using it and I didn't want people to think I copied a nitwit like Bubba the Love Sponge. Today, I think, "IF it is not racist it's also not funny and not kind and not something I want to do. (And also, it's pretty racist.)"

Having confessed, it's probably not that credible to say I have no strong opinion on Shyamalan's career, but I will say it anyway. I saw THE SIXTH SENSE back in '99, and each of his next three films when they were released. Since, apart from DEVIL, which he produced, I'd not seen any of his other pictures until I found SPLIT in my walk-in closet, a Christmas present of two years ago I never got to, Monday afternoon.

Of those first four movies, I liked SIXTH SENSE & UNBREAKABLE very much. I picked up SENSE on dvd for $1 about 18 months ago, and found it stood up and was in some ways more effective with knowing the ending than the first viewing without. I enjoyed SIGNS but saw no reason to watch it again and, though it aggravates some when people say this, I realized the twist ending of THE VILLAGE halfway through and lost interest before its end. My opinion of Mr. Shyamalan came out to, "He's done some stuff I like a lot, some I don't, and most I just haven't seen."

SPLIT pushes me to think I need to see UNBREAKABLE, SIGNS, and THE VILLAGE again, and probably at least some of his subsequent work for the first time. I can't say SPLIT strikes me as a masterwork but it's an effective, creepy piece of filmmaking that kept me going, "Ah jeez, THAT's fucked up," which is always a good thing in my reckoning. A so-called "stealth sequel," its link to UNBREAKABLE not revealed until the last 60 seconds, it's the only "twist" ending of Shyamalan's that made me shout, "YESSS!" and very much want to see its sequel, 2019's GLASS.

All this said, I'm not sure what else to say. Earning $278M in its initial release five years ago, it's hard to imagine anyone reading this needs a breakdown of the story. Critics praised McAvoy's performance, inhabiting so many distinct personalities in one body, and it's a solid piece of work but I can't say it quite rose to the physical-acting standard of an Andy Serkis or Bill Irwin. Ana Taylor-Joy plays a damaged, outcast teenager with authenticity, but she's the weak link between McAvoy and Betty Buckley's Karen Fletcher. I've been a fan of Buckley's since EIGHT IS ENOUGH, mandatory viewing for tween Russ, and I had the great good fortune of seeing her as Grizabella in CATS at New York's Winter Garden in the early '80s. I may be biased, but Buckley held my rapt attention as the others did not. Why Buckley never had a more blockbuster film career eludes me - she's a great talent.

I seldom give out stars for movies, though three or four films written up on this blog have them, but if I did for SPLIT, I'd say it's between 3&1/2 and 4. I enjoyed it, and bigger fans of Shyamalan than I likely enjoy it more. It's absolutely worth the time, not a film most viewers will say "I want my two hours back" about, which is a respectable accomplishment in the age of superheroes and reboots of reboots of remakes. If I seem to be damning with faint praise it's not my goal. SPLIT makes me want to re-watch and reevaluate M. Night Shyamalan's entire body of work. That's high praise in this household. 

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