The Sixth Sense Review

Written by: Ash's missing hand   

"The Sixth Sense" is the sort of ghost story that was popular years ago, when a regular person could see things nobody else could. It has long been believed that children are better than adults at seeing ghosts because the walls of skepticism and disbelief are not yet in place.

A child psychologist named Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) is shot in his home by an intruder, a man who was his patient years earlier and believes he was wrongly treated. We next see Dr. Crowe about six months later, healed in body but damaged in spirit, as he takes on a new case involving a boy named Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) who displays some of the same problems as the patient who shot him.

We begin to see things that Cole can see but the adults around him cannott. When his mother (Toni Collette) leaves the kitchen for a second and comes back in the room, all the doors and drawers are open. It is Dr. Crowe's job to reach this boy and heal him, if that is what he needs. He doesn't really believe what the boy tells him. Meanwhile, Dr. Crowe's wife seems to be drifting into an affair and doesn't hear him when he talks to her. Dr. Crowe has his ideas and diagnoses called into question and begins to wonder if there really aren't ghosts involved.

I have to admit, the first time I saw this movie, I was surprised by the ending. The solution to the film is hidden in plain sight, but the strength of the storytelling kept me blinded to the clues all the way through to the end of the movie, where everything takes on a new meaning. A very strong cast and directionmake this one of the best ghost stories I've seen in years.