i keep meaning to post this, and keep forgetting... and dont worry, i wont spoil the movie... not that there was much to spoil, this isnt like his other movies... or rather, the twist isnt... unless youve lived your life in a hole in the ground, youve seen this EXACT SAME twist before, MANY times...

and really, thats the thing that kills this movie for me... after watching it im left with the sense that m. knight's heart isnt in the "twilight zone" style of storytelling anymore, but he is afraid to abandon it for fear of alienating the fans of his previous films...

the movie sans "twist" stands completely on its own as a beautiful, well-scripted character study... and a surprisingly potent romance... as always, each character is fully formed and well-developed, and i think "the village" is even stronger in these respects than his other films... ivy in particular stands out, played by ron howard's daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard... her performance is one of the strongest ive ever seen from a new talent, strong enough that i will without fail see everything shes in from now on... and phoenix gets better every time i see him... and the village itself has as much character as the people who populate it...

in all, this film leaves me feeling much like i did after "the last samurai"... if you just chopped out about 10 minutes of the film (specifically, the completely tacked-on and unnecessary "twist") it would rank way up there on my list of favorite movies... as it is, though, the film falls far short of its potential...

i definitely recommend it, but be prepared to be disappointed by the big "reveal"...