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by Manny The Movie Guy

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The producers of "The Sixth Sense" and the co-writer of "Batman Begins" team up to bring us "The Invisible," a film that explores three themes hell known as high school, the supernatural, and redemption through love.

Based on the Swedish film "Den Osynlige," I had high hopes for "The Invisible." The first part of the movie was great, but the last reel failed to live up to a very smart start.

I sat down with the cast and crew of "The Invisible" to find out more about life, death, and high school hell.

HELL KNOWN AS HIGH SCHOOL

We all experienced it, hell known as high school. But we're glad we all came out of it with our emotions unscathed. The three main characters of "The Invisible" reminded me of "Rebel Without a Cause," the quintessential film about teenage alienation. We have Nick who's like the James Dean Character, Pete is like Sal Mineo, and Annie is a darker, twisted Natalie Wood.

In "The Invisible," Justin Chatwin (the actor who played Tom Cruise's son in "The War of the Worlds") stars as Nick Powell. "He seemed to have it all," Chatwin says. "He's rich, intelligent, and he gets the girls." Yet Nick feels that he's invisible, metaphorically, to his high school classmates, and to his mom (played by Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden).

Nick's best friend, Pete (Chris Marquette) also feels invisible from everyone. "He spent most of his life living under the shadows of the more popular Nick," Chris says. But when Pete crosses the school's resident bully, Annie (a fine debut performance from Margarita Levieva), relationships get shattered, resulting in a near-fatal accident involving Nick.

Nick, trapped between life and death must solve his own crime, before time runs out.

SUPERNATURAL THRILLER

"The Invisible" tries hard to be a supernatural thriller. And that's the film's flaw. The producers want to duplicate the haunting, ethereal mood of "The Sixth Sense," but "The Invisible" fails to deliver.

Director David S. Goyer (writer-creator of the "Blade" series, and jumpstarted the Batman franchise) maintains that "The Invisible" is "really a metaphorical take on how we, as human beings, sometimes fail to see and hear the person right in front of us." And that's fine, but if you're going to make a movie that's being marketed as a supernatural thriller, you have to meet the expectations.

REDEMPTIVE LOVE STORY

Many fans will compare "The Invisible" to the much better "Ghost." I will not divulge the important twists and turns, but the film nearly copied the emotional foundation of the Patrick Swayze/Demi Moore film.

"Well, it's kind of sad, that one character must nearly die, before he realizes his one true love," Goyer adds. Yes, I'm a sucker for redemptive love stories, and "The Invisible" almost made me believe the power of love. But the film would have been better, if it stayed on course with the love story/supernatural elements.

MY VERDICT

The opening date for "The Invisible" jumped around. First it was slated to open last January, then February, then finally, and Hollywood Pictures promised me this, that the film will open April 27th. But the opening date indecision is not a good sign. That means the studio is not 100% behind their product.

Knowing that, I went to see "The Invisible" as a lower-rate film, but to my surprise, it actually had something to say, but the way the filmmakers tried to prove their point was below standard.

I loved the unspoken moments of the movie (the way Nick cuts his cake across his smiling face or the way he turns smiley pieces of bacon into an upside down frown), those scenes proved the filmmakers actually put some thought behind the film. I also liked the metaphor of being invisible, and the dead-on take on teenage rebellion. I even enjoyed the performances from the lead actors especially Chatwin and Levieva as the doomed characters.

There were many great things to love about the film, that's why I was bummed when all the solid promises weren't kept. The second half of the movie was in a confused state. Goyer and company couldn't decide on a proper ending, so viewers were left scratching their heads is the film an action movie? A disaster flick? A love story? Or all of the above?

I did have a great time talking to the cast and crew, especially when I asked them the question do you believe in ghosts (all of them did). I just wished the film was as fun, as the people behind it. And for that, "The Invisible" gets 2 disappearing kisses

Learn more about this author, Manny The Movie Guy.

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