Soon, Cleveland and the rest of the tenants devise a plan to help Story back to her home land and protect her from the wolf-like creature that is stalking her.

At first, this movie appears to be choppy and stupid. That is until I realized what writer/director Shaymalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs) wanted from us. The film literally says it.

To believe this story and get sucked in by it, you have to watch it with a child's eyes. You have to imagine you're 6 years old, lying in bed and your grandmother is telling the story to help you go to sleep. If you can do this, the movie will seem pretty cool. If you can't, you'll probably just think it's dumb.

Paul Giamatti proves once again the large amount of talent and range he has, having to adopt a stutter for the role of Cleveland, which was cured when he was around Story.

The only thing I really DID NOT appreciate was the fact that it was set up Story would be carried off by this huge hawk-like bird and taken back home. When the moment finally comes, we (the audience) don't even get to see it.

Instead, Shaymalan chose this shot from underneath the pool's water, watching Cleveland and Story as rain drops murk the visibility. Suddenly, there's a flurry of feathers and wings and then we can only see Cleveland. We were denied seeing the climax of the movie, even after all the talk about it. That sucked.

Among the movies Shaymalan has created, "The Sixth Sense" is still my favorite, "Unbreakable" a close second and "Signs" third. "The Village" wasn't very good, so I would put "Lady in the Water" on the same level of enjoyment as signs but ONLY if you can watch it with a child's innocence.

Overall, I think "Lady in the Water" is worth seeing in the theater. There are a couple of intense and somewhat frightening moments, so don't bring your young kids.