Everybody's a critic - 'Signs'

Four stars

This movie is a winner and a must-see. It is a rare occasion that I would watch a movie more than once, but I am already looking forward to seeing it again.

M. Night Shyamalan does an excellent job exploring unknown possibilities and playing on human fears and emotions as well as making the story not only believable but intriguing.

The setting is a farm in Buck County, Penn., the Rev. Graham Hess's (Mel Gibson) back yard to be exact. But what is unfolding there is unfolding all over the world. As he fights to save his family from an enemy that he can't believe exists, he has to save himself from losing all he has ever believed in.

The gasps and shrieks in the audience add to the silent suspense.

Get a baby-sitter and leave the kids at home. Take someone to hold onto.

-- Tabitha Cox, receptionist

Three-and-a-half stars

This film is not "Independence Day," but it does deliver an alien (or two) just the same.

"Signs" is directed by M. Night Shyamalan, who brought us such suspenseful films as "The Sixth Sense" and "Unbreakable." In this movie, the plot centers around a minister (Mel Gibson) who has lost faith with God.

It begins with the discovery of a crop circle in the family's cornfield. Mild curiosity turns to mass confusion as these phenomena begin sprouting up across the globe. A few days later, lights appear in the sky above cities, causing panic. Striving to protect his family from harm, the minister soon comes face to face with a test of his faith once more.

As in "The Sixth Sense," pieces to the puzzle are given throughout the film and they only become clear when you have reached the end.

Don't miss it!

-- Barbara Hanscom, date entry clerk

One star

If not for Mel Gibson, I probably wouldn't have given this movie the one star I did. The movie was difficult to follow, and the daughter's pipy voice was hard to understand.

After seeing the signs in the cornfield, I kept looking for the aliens to come. The story lost its credibility when the aliens finally attack. Graham Hess (Gibson) and his brother board up their entire house, working their way to the windowless basement where a single ax props the door closed through the night of terror. The aliens are unable to break through, though they did manage to invade Earth after traveling across who knows how many light years.

Perhaps the moral of the story, if there is one, is that one must keep the faith regardless of adversities. It's a long stretch to make that point.

"Signs" for me turned out to be a bad sign.

-- Richard Ryan, real estate agent