5.5/10
93,847
1,087 user 291 critic

Lady in the Water (2006)

PG-13 | | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery | 21 July 2006 (USA)
Trailer
1:40 | Trailer
Apartment building superintendent Cleveland Heep rescues what he thinks is a young woman from the pool he maintains. When he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story who is trying to make the journey back to her home, he works with his tenants to protect his new friend from the creatures that are determined to keep her in our world.

Director:

M. Night Shyamalan
Popularity
4,918 ( 470)
10 wins & 11 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Giamatti ... Cleveland Heep
Bryce Dallas Howard ... Story
Jeffrey Wright ... Mr. Dury
Bob Balaban ... Harry Farber
Sarita Choudhury ... Anna Ran
Cindy Cheung ... Young-Soon Choi
M. Night Shyamalan ... Vick Ran
Freddy Rodríguez ... Reggie
Bill Irwin ... Mr. Leeds
Mary Beth Hurt ... Mrs. Bell
Noah Gray-Cabey ... Joey Dury
Joseph D. Reitman ... Long Haired Smoker
Jared Harris ... Goatee Smoker
Grant Monohon Grant Monohon ... Emaciated Smoker
John Boyd ... One-Eyebrow Smoker
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Storyline

The super Cleveland Heep finds a woman swimming in the swimming pool of the condominium during the night; he slips, hits his head on the floor and faints in the water, and she rescues him. He discloses that she is a "Narf" called Story, a character of bedtime stories, that is chased by a "Scrunt" and she needs to return to her Blue World with an eagle. Cleveland convinces the tenants to help and protect Story. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

It's not under the bed. See more »


Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some frightening sequences | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

View content advisory »
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Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the book "The Man Who Heard Voices," or "How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale," one of the reasons why Shyamalan decided to part with Disney was because Disney's president of development, Nina Jacobson, took her son to a party instead of staying home to read the script for Lady in the Water (2006). Shyamalan had it personally couriered to her, and to add insult to injury, she did not like it anyway. Shyamalan went off in a huff, and the "creative differences" he purportedly had with Disney was that he simply felt there was nothing creative about Disney anymore. He took the script to Warner Bros. instead, but without the usual marketing campaign that Disney promoted his other films with, and Lady in the Water (2006) was a box-office flop. See more »

Goofs

(at around 28 mins) When Cleveland unblocks the drain in the hippie apartment he wears green rubber gloves. Next shot (same scene) he holds pliers and doesn't wear the gloves. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Cleveland Heep: [narrating] Once, man and those in the water were linked. They inspired us. They spoke of the future. Man listened and it became real. But man does not listen very well. Man's need to own everything led him deeper into land. The magic world of the ones that live in the ocean, and the world of men, separated. Through the centuries their world, and all the inhabitants of it stopped trying. The world of man become more violent. War upon war played out, as there were no guides to listen...
[...]
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Crazy Credits

After the movie has ended, and all of the credits have scrolled, there appears the following dedication from M. Night Shyamalan: "To my daughters, I'll tell you this story one more time. But then go to bed." See more »


Soundtracks

Wen Wo
Written by James Wong and Michael Lai
Performed by Josephine Siao Fong-Fong
Courtesy of EMI Records
Under License from EMI Film & Television Music
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User Reviews

 
Refreshing original...
15 January 2019 | by ciubotaruoaSee all my reviews

This is a highly missunderstood masterpiece. One of a kind movie among Night.s creation. One that requires patience and full attention. Unique(still in 2019) script, unique development of the story, well penciled and motivated charaters. Allow it to get under your skin. One a of kind fantasy story.


31 of 37 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you? | Report this
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Frequently Asked Questions

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 July 2006 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

Lady in the Water See more »

Filming Locations:

Pennsylvania, USA See more »

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Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$18,044,396, 23 July 2006

Gross USA:

$42,285,169

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$72,785,169
See more on IMDbPro »

Company Credits

Show more on IMDbPro »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital EX | DTS-ES

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1
See full technical specs »

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