“Wait wait wait. A 'scrunt' ?” is probably what you are asking yourself right now. Well, let us start from the beginning. As the story goes, Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) plays an apartment caretaker (who stutters a lot when he talks) who finds out that someone has been swimming in the pool after hours. When he sets out to find this person, he encounters what is known in the mythical world as a "nymph" (or “narf”), a humanoid creature from the "Blue World" (the sea). A nymph's role throughout the ages apparently has been to help mankind find purpose so that this world can move along as a much better place than before. It is a legend that has been handed down for centuries and is now manifesting itself into the roles of many quirky individuals living in the apartment complex.

     The problem is that the nymph, whose name is “Story” (played wonderfully by Bryce Dallas Howard) is being watched by other evil creatures. She cannot return to the sea unless certain individuals, each with a special purpose, help her get passed the “scrunts” - wolf-like creatures that camouflage perfectly into grassy areas. She must also avoid other creatures called "Tartutics" that hide in the trees that enforce laws that the nymphs and scrunts must obey in relation to our world and theirs. Anyone who disobeys these rules will be killed. If the humans find their purpose in this tale, and also successfully help Story, a giant eagle will whisk her away back to the sea where she belongs.

     Does this story seem a little disjointed yet? A little childlike? Alas, that is the point of this film. Shyamalan has already proven himself worthy of telling interesting storylines with proper narrative, as we have seen with The Sixth Sense or Signs. So he feels he has the liberty to use a different approach to storytelling - that of bedtime storytelling. It feels as if it was made up as he went along, and certain aspects of the characters or plot feel a bit unbelievable or forced. This is just fine, however, as it is done on purpose. Is it a poor excuse to not have to write properly? Perhaps. But at least Shyamalan accomplishes what he set out to do. When I watched this film, I felt like a kid again, shining a flashlight underneath my face and telling creepy and exciting tales at night in the dark.

     These are the types of stories that are not scripted, or thoroughly plotted out. They are simply meant to capture the imagination of a child. Children do not need explanations. They believe what they are told. Cynicism has not infiltrated their psyches yet, which is why the adult characters in this film are so easily susceptible to the tales they are told about the nymph and why they need to help her get back to the sea. They are not offered much explanation as to why they should even believe she lives in the sea, or if there really are scrunts and other creatures that exist. They just believe, just as a child would - which is how we are meant to approach this film. There are even scenes within the film which indicate that this is how we are supposed to think, including Mr. Heep purposefully behaving childish so that he can hear the rest of the sea nymph story from someone who will not tell it to him if he thinks and behaves like an adult.

     This film makes it easy to have a childlike mind again, with every character being incredibly funny and likable, and so innocently trusting and unskeptical the whole way. Shyamalan really does a great job portraying a diverse group of people who live in this apartment complex through witty dialogue and humor. We have a character that only lifts a dumbbell with one arm, leaving the other arm scrawny. We have a flighty, Asian party girl and her mom who does not speak English. There is even a group of pot-smoking hippies, a man who is incredibly talented with crossword puzzles, and, of course, the film critic (Bob Balaban) who gets mauled by a scrunt (being a film critic myself, I found this rather hilarious).

     There are many others as well, which may be too many. There are quite a few characters that play a part, but we do not have much of a chance to get to know most of them like we should. Even with this type of narrative, there needs to be a line drawn somewhere that says, "Hey, this film is too crowded." It is the same as when a filmmaker sets out to adapt a book into a movie; he cannot write the film the exact same way as the book. He can only capture the spirit of it. Saying that, however, at least every single character is entertaining - and they all have a “purpose.”

     This is definitely a different movie for Shyamalan. There is no twist ending this time around (although that fact in and of itself could be argued as being the twist), there are more special effects (of which Industrial Light and Magic did a tremendous job on), and even M. Night Shyamalan himself plays a main role this time, whereas in his other pictures he played more minor roles. He plays the role of a writer whose purpose is to write a book that will influence someone to be a great leader one day. This may come off as very egotistical and preachy, since in real life Shyamalan is a writer himself. But he does play the role well, as do all of the other cast members.

     I, for one, understand this movie. I was a kid once, and this movie took me back to when I used to have stories told to me or when I used to tell them. So Shyamalan, thank you for making a great bedtime story!