By Brett Blake M. Night Shyamalan’s career has become a bit of a roller coaster ride at this point. He was riding high for a while, then had an extended low period where he nosedived, before he finally started to creep back up with THE VISIT and crested another peak with SPLIT. Now, after that last high, he has to come back down a bit, which is what happens in the case of GLASS; that’s not to say it’s a bad film, because it isn’t (it’s actually mostly a very good film!), but it’s a step back from the previous movie, which was his best work in 15 years. It is, though, packed with fine performances and some terrific visual storytelling. Functioning as a sequel to both 2000’s UNBREAKABLE and 2017’s SPLIT, GLASS finds super-strong vigilante David Dunn (Bruce Willis) on the hunt for Kevin Wendell Crumb (James McAvoy), a multiple-personality serial killer who targets young girls to be sacrificed for “The Beast,” a monstrous personality dwelling within him. Both men find themselves committed to a psychiatric hospital under the care of Dr. Ellie Staple (Sarah Paulson), whose other patient is none other than criminal mastermind and Dunn’s old nemesis, Elijah Price, aka Mr. Glass (Samuel L. Jackson). With these characters in close proximity, it’s only a matter of time before Glass begins manipulating the situation with the intention of exposing Dunn’s and Crumb’s “gifts” to the world. For the vast majority of its running time, GLASS sees Shyamalan operating virtually at the height of his powers, staging suspenseful and character-based scenes with equal ease. He uses the camera for maximum effect, finding interesting ways to film confrontations and conversations, and he is able to draw out very fine work from the entire cast, which - beyond his direction - is the true strength of the movie. Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson slip comfortably back into characters they originated nearly 19 years ago, and both are fully-engaged and invested. They’re sidelined a bit in the movie’s midsection, but the trade-off there is that we get more ample time with James McAvoy and the 24 distinct personalities he brings to the table. As was the case with SPLIT, this is a phenomenal showcase for McAvoy’s talents, and the range of accents and body language that he is able to cycle through at the drop of a hat is truly kind of remarkable. Beyond those three headliners, GLASS serves up three additional very fine supporting turns, the most surprising of which belongs to Spencer Treat Clark, reprising his role - now as an adult - as Dunn’s son, Joseph; he and Willis have a fun dynamic early on, and he helps anchor Dunn’s story in a relatable and human space. Likewise, Anya Taylor-Joy returns from SPLIT to provide similar anchoring for McAvoy; she gets the most emotional material in the story to play, and without her, it would have been easy for McAvoy’s Crumb to get lost in the inherent absurdity of his colorful personalities. Sarah Paulson, ever a pro, adds an interesting, extra layer as a doctor whose genuine concern for her patients feels completely natural... but also shaded by an ambiguity that makes her - intentionally - subtly complicated. So that all sounds great, right? Well, for most of the movie, it is! But then we get to the ending. As has happened too often in the past, Shyamalan The Screenwriter gets in the way of Shyamalan The Director. After the restraint of SPLIT, he falls back into some old habits here, and while they don’t destroy the film the way the flaws of efforts like THE VILLAGE, LADY IN THE WATER, and THE HAPPENING do, the missteps here smart a bit because they were so avoidable. Now, to Shyamalan’s credit, these shortcomings are not born out of a lack of imagination or ambition, but rather a weak grasp on tone. The actual intentions of the ending, on the page, are kind of fascinating on a conceptual level, and I think I may even like it, intellectually. However, emotionally and tonally, it hits a very false note. As the ultimate pay-off of what has become a trilogy, taking the finale in the direction he does was a very questionable decision on Shyamalan’s part; he gets a little too cute, a little too cerebral, at the expense of the human drama we have been investing in. The ending may be a deal-breaker for some, and I can understand why it might be. It isn’t one for me, because I think it’s backed-up by interesting ideas, and because the rest of the movie that precedes it is so strong. And if nothing else, GLASS offers more proof of what a talented performer James McAvoy is, and it’s worth seeing for that reason alone.
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