A moody and brilliantly crafted drama. Superior in many ways to director M. Night Shyamalan's earlier huge hit Sixth Sense (1999).

Pic opens in a Philadelphia department store in 1961. A baby is delivered with broken arms and legs, to the astonishment of Dr. Mathison (Eamonn Walker). Some years later, our baby, now a teenager (Johnny Hiram Jamison), sits glumly in front of the television, afraid to go outside.

His mother (Charlayne Woodard) bribes him to venture outside with gifts of comic books.

Back to the present, and David Dunn (Bruce Willis) is on a train back to his hometown of Philadelphia, returning from a job interview in New York. A pretty girl (Leslie Stefanson) sits down next to him. He discreetly removes his wedding ring, and tries to talk her up. Not surprisingly, she moves to another seat (and he puts his ring back on). Mr. Dunn is a troubled individual.

We'll have to hold off psychoanalyzing him, though, because BIG trouble is on the way, in the form a gigantic train wreck.

Dunn emerges as the only survivor; in fact, he's not hurt at all. As he is leaving a memorial service for the victims, he notices a card on his windshield. It reads "How many days of your life have you been sick?" and gives a contact name and address.

Dunn and his son Jeremy (Spencer Treat Clark) visit the shop indicated on the card, and meet Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson). Price is our "breakable" baby, all grown up. He looks frail, and is a wee bit eccentric. He believes that David has supernatural powers, and attempts to make his case, citing his expertise in comic books. After all, he is now the successful owner of a comic book store/art gallery.

David is hardly convinced, and just leaves. He has other more pressing problems, such as a failing marriage to Audrey (Robin Wright Penn), and a dead end job as a stadium security guard.

As it turns out, he never HAS been sick, and when tested by Jeremy, is a whole lot stronger than he thought. What's more, circumstances in David's life, including his sudden abandonment of a promising football career years earlier, are starting to make a compelling case for Elijah's theory.

In the film's third act, David must recognize his gifts, and determine just what to do with them. This he does, as portrayed to us with bravura visuals, and almost no dialogue.

As far as the surprise ending, it will spoil nothing to relate that it really doesn't affect the plot. Even so, it is far more of a surprise than the many times telegraphed "shocker" of Sixth Sense. If you must know something, just think Rod Serling and O. Henry, with the emphasis on Serling.

There are those who will criticize Shyamalan for making another film about the protagonist's reluctant acceptance of supernatural powers, but that view is far too limited.

What we have here instead is the very real and quite common dilemma of how one handles his gifts--whatever they may be. The Gospels attacked this problem with the Parable of the Talents (Mt 25:14-30 and Lk 19:11-27).

Shyamalan uses his own considerable gifts to reopen this issue for us. Matthew and Luke would be proud.