Signs (2002)

A family living on a farm finds mysterious crop circles in their fields which suggests something more frightening to come.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan

Writer:

M. Night Shyamalan

Stars:

Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin

3 wins & 34 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mel Gibson	...	Rev. Graham Hess
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Merrill Hess
Rory Culkin	...	Morgan Hess
Abigail Breslin	...	Bo Hess
Cherry Jones	...	Officer Paski
M. Night Shyamalan	...	Ray Reddy
Patricia Kalember	...	Colleen Hess
Ted Sutton	...	SFC Cunningham
Merritt Wever	...	Tracey Abernathy, the Pharmacist
Lanny Flaherty	...	Mr. Nathan
Marion McCorry	...	Mrs. Nathan
Michael Showalter	...	Lionel Prichard
Kevin Pires	...	Brazilian Birthday Boy
Clifford David	...	Columbia University Professor
Rhonda Overby	...	Sarah Hughes

Storyline

Preacher Graham Hess, played by Mel Gibson, has lost his faith in God after his wife dies in a brutal car accident. He along with his son and daughter and his brother Merrill lives in a farmhouse. Crop circles begin to appear in their corn fields which Graham dismisses as mischief by miscreants. After hearing strange noises and watching news coverage on crop circles appearing all over the world, the family grows suspicious of alien activities. Now they must stick together and believe, as a family to survive the ordeal and find a way to escape.

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Plot Keywords:

crop | crop circle | faith | farm | farmhouse | 

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Taglines:

The first sign you can't explain. The second sign you can't ignore. The third sign you won't believe.

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some frightening moments

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Portuguese

Release Date:

2 August 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

M. Night Shyamalan's Signs

Filming Locations:

UK

Box Office

Budget:

$72,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$60,117,080, 4 August 2002, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$227,966,634

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$408,247,917

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Blinding Edge Pictures, The Kennedy/Marshall Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX SDDS DTS

Color:

Color (DuArt)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film grew out of M. Night Shyamalan's idea to show an alien invasion from the point of view of one family.

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Goofs

Officer Paski's uniform features an American flag on the right arm which is backwards. Reverse flags are to be worn on the right arm while the left arm uses the standard flag direction. The stars of the flag are always supposed to be closest to the heart as a rule of thumb. On Officer Paski's right shoulder the flag is incorrect and a huge mistake.

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Quotes

Graham Hess: We're going to board up every window in this house.
Merrill: How do you know boards will do anything?
Graham Hess: Because they seem to have trouble with pantry doors.

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Crazy Credits

In Memory of Bill Nisselson - June 19, 2001

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Alternate Versions

An additional deleted scene was shown during the credits when it aired on a pay channel in the USA. Grahm Hess tells everyone they must go into the basement. He then tells the story of how he accidentally dislocated Merrill's elbow when he was 1½ years old, and that Merrill never got mad at him. The scene ends with everyone walking down the stairs and closing the basement door.

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Connections

Referenced in Martha Speaks: Firedog Martha/Martha's Pickle (2008)

User Reviews

Now then, swing away Merill, again.

Signs is written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. It stars Mel Gibson, Joaquin Phoenix, Rory Culkin, Abigail Breslin and Cherry Jones. Music is scored by James Newton Howard and cinematography by Tak Fujimoto.

Still reeling from the death of his wife, former man of the cloth Graham Hess (Gibson) lives and works on his farm with his two young children and younger brother. When the family awakes one morning to find a huge crop circle in their plantation, it is asked if it's a prank or the sign of alien contact?

I don't know if M. Night Shyamalan discouraged the marketing of Signs? Where evidence very much pointed to it being an alien invasion movie for all the family to enjoy? But Signs is anything but a family alien invasion movie. The trailers were deliberately vague, there was a mystery element hanging over the picture and with the Shyamalan CV already boasting the phenomenally successful The Sixth Sense and the divisive, but very moody, Unbreakable, hopes were pitched somewhere between excited and intrigued. Gibson on board, and Phoenix as well, good selling points without a doubt. However, Signs is a grower, a film that pays better dividends on further viewings once armed with the knowledge of what sort of theme drives it on. Yet it still frustrates greatly and you can see why it proved so divisive.

Shyamalan's movie is primarily about faith, the loss of such, the alien visitors are merely a component of this theme, they act as the catalyst that takes Graham to the pinnacle of his voyage of discovery. The meditations on faith and grief are subtle initially but they drive the picture forward, but then Manoj Shyamalan slips into sermonising and his picture strives for a huge ending to justify it, which unfortunately never arrives, this after having been tickled and baited by the mystery of what the aliens want, friend or foe? Questions leap out such as will the Hess family come through this latest crisis in one piece? And will this "invasion" marry up with the director's thematics that he is so keen for us to open our hearts to? The answers to these questions are mixed, and take further viewings to digest fully. That is if you can forgive the downright idiocy of the alien visitors in the first place?

The last third has killed the film for many, which is a shame given the excellence on offer in the first hour. Shyamalan's camera is wonderfully fluid, his mise en scène is ace and he garners wonderfully low-key performances from his cast. While as much as his critics hate to acknowledge it, the director has a brilliant knack for building suspense, the ability to draw the viewer into his world, playing on our basic inquisitive nature. That he hasn't delivered on his promise, both here with the finale to the film and later in his overall directing career (though this writer personally loves The Village), is hard to argue against, but there is major talent there buried in his egocentric/confused make up. Elsewhere, James Newton Howard's score is channelling Herrmann and Fujimoto's photography is sublime, this really is a beautiful movie to look at.

Definitely not a family film, and not really an alien invasion film, with it showcasing both the good and bad aspects of its director. Yet still compelling and pretty enough to warrant a second viewing me thinks. 7/10