Sandy Kenyon reviews 'Glass,' a 'long, tough slog'

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Friday, January 18, 2019
Sandy Kenyon reviews 'Glass,' a 'long, tough slog'
Sandy Kenyon reports on the film "Glass," featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis and James McAvoy.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Fans of the movies "Unbreakable" and "Split" have been waiting for this weekend, when director M. Night Shyamalan's third film in the series is released.

It's called "Glass," and it brings Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis and James McAvoy together on the big screen.

But is it worth your money?

The trick is to talk about how slowly this film plays without boring you, tell you how tedious it is without causing you to click away.

"Glass" is the name of Jackson's character, and the title has a double meaning that becomes apparent late in the movie -- but by then I had lost all interest and was counting the minutes until it was over.

If only Willis had followed the advice of his character when he says, "Don't do this!"

Shyamalan made a sequel to not one, but two of his biggest blockbusters. "Split" featured McAvoy as a guy with ,ultiple personalities, while "Unbreakable" -- now more than 18 years old -- had Willis playing the only survivor of a train wreck.

Each of the three firmly believe they possess real superpowers.

A psychiatrist played by Sarah Paulson brings them together in a Philadelphia mental hospital to try and convince them that they're suffering from delusions of grandeur.

Despite what you see in the trailer, the movie doesn't have enough action. There are a few flashes of brilliance and some riffs that demonstrate what might have been, but "Glass" wastes most of its considerable star power.

Jackson stares into space for most of the picture, and Willis is gone from the screen for lengthy periods. So that leaves only McAvoy to amaze us as he shifts between identities like a true virtuoso.

What we have here is a form of artistic bankruptcy, where the director has run out of new ideas and so must recycle old ones. There are too few chills, not enough thrills, and just a whole lot of talking.

"Glass" is a long, tough slog that I certainly would never pay to endure.

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