I watched The Sixth Sense a few month’s ago with my son, so no need to watch it again for this blog. I had seen it before, and frankly I didn’t really want to see it again because once you know the ending it’s not much of a film, but Connor hadn’t seen it and we thought he’d like it. Well, he had the same reaction as I did the first time I saw it — “eh.”

Let’s be honest, were it not for the ending, which I will not disclose here for the three of you out there who haven’t seen this film, it would have been a rather typical mystery movie. I don’t think The Sixth Sense belongs on this list. Believe me, if you “love” The Sixth Sense it’s probably because you haven’t seen it again since being shocked by the ending. It’s a gimmick film, and it should have tipped us off to just how overrated M. Night Shayamalan really is. After this he did the forgettable Unbreakable, followed by the moronic Signs and a several more unwatchable films. Can you say over-hype?

There is one worthwhile thing beyond the plot twist at the end, and that is the superb acting of young Haley Joel Osment. After playing Forrest Gump’s kid he did a bunch of TV before breaking out in this film, and then he followed this up with a bunch of great performances in films like Pay it Forward and Artificial Intelligence. He has the creepy kid thing down.

Next up: Bringing Up Baby