"variety" magazine wrote a scathing advance review that appeared on july 16, 2006. common complaints about the film were that little effort was put into getting the viewer to believe in the world, that few moments of the film could be taken seriously, and that shyamalan was using the film as a form of self-indulgence; instead of having a minor cameo, as in most of his films, shyamalan cast himself as a visionary whose writing changes the world, and another character included a film critic—portrayed by actor bob balaban as arrogant, self-assured, and passive—who comes to a violent end. many reviewers attacked this perceived self-indulgence: manohla dargis of "the new york times" wrote of the story, "apparently those who live in the water now roam the earth trying to make us listen, though initially it's rather foggy as to what precisely we are supposed to hear—the crash of the waves, the songs of the sirens, the voice of god—until we realize that of course we're meant to cup our ear to an even higher power: mr. shyamalan."