Quote:
However, while I might agree with the fact that Graham Hess has the ability to choose, the lives of those around him seem to be predefined to lead him to that conclusion.
I think, though, this this story is only about Graham Hess and his particular struggle. His life is as predetermined as anyone else's, but it is his struggle what is in focus. We don't get a clear picture of what the other people's struggles are or how "God" ("God" of the movie that is) might be working in their lives.

Quote:
Honestly, if I were in the same situation he was in at the end of the movie, I believe that I would be madder at God than ever because not only did God allow his wife to die, but he ordained it, along with the dismal life given to his brother and the illness given to his child.
Perhaps. From Hess's persepective (as a minister), the confirmation that God is involved personally in his life probably gives him reason to trust that the end goal will be good, that his son will one day be healed, that his wife awaits him in heaven, and that all of the pain he sufferes is but a small slice of time when compared with all eternity. But as this is a movie about a fictional "God", I don't really want to get into a theological debate on this point. I think Shyamalan was probably making more of a statement about faith struggles in general than a faith struggle in the Christian God. In a sense, you're dead on when you say
Quote:
it did prove to him
, because this was Graham's movie, not his wife, or child's or anyone else's- so what matters from the movie's standpoint is Graham's faith- however he believes it.
_________________________
-Jeff
Rome did not create a great empire by having meetings; they did it by killing all those who opposed them.