TMG Scale 6.0
Starring Chris Messina and some others hard to call “stars”…yet.
Five strangers fortuitously get on an elevator together. The elevator breaks down. Okay ladies and gentlemen...just guess who you are riding with today?
You kind of know what to expect when the screenplay is written by M. Night Shyamalan. Though not one of his best efforts, it may force you to check out every stranger the next time before you step on an elevator. But don’t you already? TMG almost got caught on the elevators in the New York World Trade Center on February 26, 1993. It was not the devil to blame that time, but awfully close.
Devil will be a decent DVD rental on Halloween or a rainy night with friends. Better if any of them recently got caught on an elevator in a major city. This film has little future beyond that. It was kind of fun but had no depth or meaning as a filmwork. It was mildly entertaining and a bit scarey. Frankly, TMG is more worried if the person next to him on an elevator bathed that day or what they had for lunch than the devil actually showing up. If you are a bit claustrophobic to begin with, you will squirm and freak out some…and that is pretty much all Shymalan was going for anyway.
There really is no commentary on good and evil in this film and no real explanation or reason for the devil showing up. But the word “evil” does begin with a “d.” TMG suspects the real devil (Do we give him a capital “D”?) in fact does get to pick his own parts though. This film probably brings more fame, or perhaps disdain, on elevator manufactures and inspectors. Next time I ride, I am going to check if “G.Carson” inspected the one I am riding on. I will leave it to you to see the film to understand that more fully. But if G. Carson is the inspector, TMG ain’t gettin on.
One cool technique was filming everything at the beginning of the movie either upside down or at odd angles. At the end of the movie, everything was right side up and in perspective. It seemed to be the only real message. Perhaps that if you can confess your sins and get yourself free of the devil, all things may suddenly appear right with the world. That’s about all TMG walked away with. Well, …. that and my nifty large souvenier plastic coke cup for $ 5.95. Wait for this one on DVD at Redbox and you can buy a case of Coke for less than that. Redbox sponsors are you listening?