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Lady in the Water (2006)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 4.2/10
Reviews Counted: 207
Fresh: 50 | Rotten: 157

A far-fetched story with little suspense and unconvincing scenarios, Lady In The Water feels contrived, pretentious, and rather silly.

Average Rating: 3.8/10
Critic Reviews: 39
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 34

A far-fetched story with little suspense and unconvincing scenarios, Lady In The Water feels contrived, pretentious, and rather silly.

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Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 396,182

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Movie Info

M. Night Shyamalan writes and directs this self-proclaimed, grown-up "bedtime story" about an apartment building superintendent named Cleveland (Paul Giamatti) who discovers a magical sea-nymph named Story (Bryce Dallas Howard) who's been transported to this world and is living in the building's own swimming pool. As this bizarre revelation sinks in, Cleveland becomes enraptured by her other-worldly charm. As he shelters her in his apartment, other inhabitants of the building begin falling into

PG-13, 1 hr. 49 min.

Drama, Mystery & Suspense, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Directed By: M. Night Shyamalan

Written By: M. Night Shyamalan

In Theaters: Jul 21, 2006 Wide

On DVD: Dec 19, 2006

Box Office:$42.2M

Warner Bros. Pictures

Lady in the Water Trailer & Photos

More Photos (29)

Cast

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 Rodriguez
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
Emaciated Smoker
John Boyd
One-Eyebrow Smoker
Ethan Cohn
Glasses Smoker
June Kyoko Lu
Mrs. Choi
Tovah Feldshuh
Mrs. Bubchik
Tom Mardirosian
Mr. Bubchik
Maricruz Hernandez
Perez de la Torre Siste...
Carla Jimenez
Perez de la Torre Siste...
Natasha Perez
Perez de la Torre Siste...
Monique Curnen
Perez de la Torre Siste...
Marilyn Torres
Perez de la Torre Siste...
George Bass
Mr. Perez de la Torre
Joel Garland
Pool Guy
James "Jimbo" Breen
SPCA Guy
Nell Johnson
Phone Message
Walter Lafty
Silvertide Band Member
Mark Melchiorre Jr.
Silvertide Band Member
Kevin Frank
Silvertide Band Member
Brian Weaver
Silvertide Band Member
Nick Perri
Silvertide Band Member
Jeremy Howard
Tartutic #1
Brian Steele
Tartutic #2
Kurt Carley
Tartutic #3
Doug Jones
Tartutic #4

Critic Reviews for Lady in the Water

All Critics (214) | Top Critics (39) | Fresh (51) | Rotten (164) | DVD (29)

The story is so convoluted and ultimately preposterous that you're almost embarrassed by the earnestness of the actors trying to carry it off.

July 21, 2006 Full Review Source: New York Daily News

| Comment

Jack Mathews

New York Daily News

Top Critic

In the end, Shyamalan's stumbling Lady never gives us a reason to believe.

July 21, 2006 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle

| Comment

Amy Biancolli

Houston Chronicle

Top Critic

Crazy as this might sound, it turns out that self-indulgent ramblings designed to put your children to sleep are pretty much the opposite of art.

July 21, 2006 Full Review Source: Globe and Mail

| Comment

Liam Lacey

Globe and Mail

Top Critic

An act of spectacular (if unwitting) self-immolation.

July 21, 2006 Comment

Lou Lumenick

New York Post

Top Critic

It's a busy made-up universe -- with rules, rituals, and a deity-tree that could give the Hindu hierarchy a run for its rupee. And it's extremely silly.

July 21, 2006 Comment

Steven Rea

Philadelphia Inquirer

Top Critic

Lady is the height of folly, an endeavor as wrongheaded as The Postman, as foolish as any 'vanity' project of the past 20 years.

July 21, 2006 Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel

| Comment

Roger Moore

Orlando Sentinel

Top Critic

Peevishly defensive, intransigently personal and serenely indifferent to critical (and audience) reaction

August 30, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

More soggy than scary. Still, not for youngsters.

July 17, 2008 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comment

Cynthia Fuchs

Common Sense Media

... to put it bluntly, badly paced and completely trivial, not to mention utterly juvenile.

July 4, 2008 Full Review Source: ESplatter

| Comments (4)

Steve Biodrowski

ESplatter

This could have made a decent movie but the mythology comes so thick and fast that it mixes to a slurry as you watch.

June 13, 2008 Full Review Source: Eye for Film

| Comment

Amber Wilkinson

Eye for Film

What is most annoying about "Lady" is that no one ever considers the possibility that nothing magical is actually occurring.The film starts out silly and just gets sillier.

April 20, 2008 Full Review Source: Beyond Hollywood

| Comments (3)

Brian Holcomb

Beyond Hollywood

While I love where Night's head and heart are at, I think he tried to communicate them in a way that was clumsy, cumbersome, lacking in suspense and menace, and frankly, unexciting.

February 28, 2008 Full Review Source: BrandonFibbs.com

| Comment

Brandon Fibbs

BrandonFibbs.com

an earnest attempt to put the best possible gloss on a mediocre product.

September 17, 2007 Full Review Source: Eye for Film

| Comment

Anton Bitel

Eye for Film

Ignore the critics on this movie. Yeah, I am one. Which means I'm telling you to ignore me, too.

July 23, 2007 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

The disc's extras are less impressive than they first appear.

April 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide

| Comment

Jamie Gillies

Apollo Guide

The film is a mess, a ramshackle affair. Its silliness cannot sustain itself.

April 25, 2007 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide

| Comment

Jamie Gillies

Apollo Guide

It's a fairy tale that never flies the way it should.

March 24, 2007 Full Review Source: UGO

| Comment

Brian Tallerico

UGO

More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Lady in the Water

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One of the few M. Night Shyamalan films that I enjoy. Some of the acting was a bit ridiculous though.

August 5, 2010

Jameson Worley

Super Reviewer

Another disaster from M. Night Shyamalan.Grade: F

January 30, 2011

Matt Goodman

Super Reviewer

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