Unbreakable (2000)

A man learns something extraordinary about himself after a devastating accident.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer:

M. Night Shyamalan

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright

2 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bruce Willis	...	David Dunn
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Elijah Price
Robin Wright	...	Audrey Dunn (as Robin Wright Penn)
Spencer Treat Clark	...	Joseph Dunn
Charlayne Woodard	...	Elijah's Mother
Eamonn Walker	...	Dr. Mathison
Leslie Stefanson	...	Kelly
Johnny Hiram Jamison	...	Elijah Age 13
Michaelia Carroll	...	Babysitter
Bostin Christopher	...	Comic Book Clerk
Elizabeth Lawrence	...	School Nurse
Davis Duffield	...	David Dunn Age 20 (as David Duffield)
Laura Regan	...	Audrey Inverso Age 20
Chance Kelly	...	Orange Suit Man
Michael Kelly	...	ER Doctor

Storyline

David Dunn (Willis) is taking a train from New York City back home to Philadelphia after a job interview that didn't go well when his car jumps the tracks and collides with an oncoming engine, with David the only survivor among the 131 passengers on board. Astoundingly, David is not only alive, he hardly seems to have been touched. As David wonders what has happened to him and why he was able to walk away, he encounters a mysterious stranger, Elijah Prince (Samuel L. Jackson), who explains to David that there are a certain number of people who are "unbreakable" -- they have remarkable endurance and courage, a predisposition toward dangerous behavior, and feel invincible but also have strange premonitions of terrible events. Is David "unbreakable"? And if he is, what are the physical and psychological ramifications of this knowledge?

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Plot Keywords:

supernatural power | train station | train crash | superhero | comic book art | 

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Taglines:

Are You Ready For The Truth?

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic elements including some disturbing violent content, and for a crude sexual reference

Did You Know?

Trivia

M. Night Shyamalan came up with the idea for this movie while filming The Sixth Sense (1999), which also starred Bruce Willis.

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Goofs

Early in the movie David is reading a "Philadelphia Inquirer" newspaper. At the end this becomes a "Philadelphia Telegraph".

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Quotes

Joseph Dunn: Do you think you could beat up Bruce Lee?
David Dunn: No.
Joseph Dunn: I mean, if you knew karate?
David Dunn: Nope.
Joseph Dunn: What if he wasn't allowed to kick, and you were *really* mad at him?
David Dunn: No, Joseph.

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Crazy Credits

As the movie starts, the FBI warning shatters like a window breaking.

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Alternate Versions

Several deleted scenes are included in the DVD: They include:

• Audrey and Joseph sitting in the hospital waiting room, awaiting information about if David survived. She tries to cheer him up by buying him all the sugary foods and drink he usually can't have.
• A scene showing TV footage of the wreck, while through the cracked open door we see someone in the shower. The scene cuts into the shower and we see David crying.
• Elijah at age 7 goes to the fair and gets on a spinning teacup ride. He uses two stuffed animals to hold himself in place, and wraps his jacket along the lap bar. Eventully, the animals and jacket fall off the ride as his mother watches in horror. He then goes swinging from side to side breaking his bones.
• After the wake, David sees a priest about his survival. The priest sets his priesthood aside to tell David that it was nothing but luck, and how he had a nephew on that train that died. He also tells of other tragedies he had, and that if David was looking for some kind of miracle answer, he won't find it from him.
• Audrey calls David pretending it's their first meeting and asks him to dinner. They go out and talk, when one of Audrey's friends comes in and says how David is cute and what kind of lawyer he is. The friend realizes that shouldn't have been said, and leaves while David becomes a bit upset.
• David checking on Joseph to make sure he is sleeping okay.
• Elijah is taken away by doctors after talking to Audrey.
• David goes to the locker room at the stadium to lift more weights and lifts around 500 pounds. When he gets up, he sees the entire football team watching in awe.

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Connections

Spoofed in Unbakeable (2001)

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Soundtracks

Fugue in C major, BWV 952 (from 'Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Bach')
Written by Johann Sebastian Bach
Performed by Glenn Gould
Courtesy of Sony Classical
By Arrangement with Sony Music Licensing
Courtesy of The Estate of Glenn Gould

User Reviews

Hugely underrated and misunderstood movie

I love this film. I'm the only person I know who doesn't hate it, but I cannot fathom why it gets such a bad rap from everybody. It seems that Shyamalan's films have this a running theme - with the notable exception of the Sixth Sense, which pretty much everyone seems to get. He makes movies that are very subtle, and which seem to need you to focus on them just right to fully grasp what he was trying to do. I've enjoyed all his movies, but for me the alien part of Signs takes a lot away from what I believe to be the central storyline and as such the whole movie suffers a little. Yet I know other people who think Signs is his best, specifically because of the way the alien plot line accentuates the central one.

Unbreakable is a beautifully simple film, but I think it has to hit you just right for you to completely get it. All the actors nail their parts, particularly Bruce Willis and his kid. Shyamalan takes an interesting (if slightly fringe) theory and puts it in a real world context, with a real family. Somehow he manages to never go overboard with it and - for me at least - it gripped me from the first moment to the last. Samuel L Jackson's character history is really nicely crafted in the middle of the other plot lines and you get genuinely involved in the people Shyamalan has created.

Don't get caught up in all the talk of the twist ending. The ending is good, but if you spend the whole movie waiting for this tumultuous twist you'll inevitably be disappointed, and the movie stands alone without it.

Don't go into this movie expecting another Sixth Sense or Signs. It's very very subtle and very understated. If you don't like slow movies, just don't watch this because it moves at a very sedate pace, but I personally think you'll be missing out. You'll likely either love it or you'll loathe it, but at least it will make an impression.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 November 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

No Ordinary Man

Filming Locations:

Ontario Street Comic Book Shop, 2235 E. Ontario St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$30,330,771, 26 November 2000

Gross USA:

$95,011,339

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$248,118,121

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, Barry Mendel Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX SDDS DTS-ES

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1