frank lovece of "film journal international" said, "fans of actor paul giamatti or of filmmaker m. night shyamalan may get something out of "lady in the water", a fractured fairy tale about a water nymph who comes to a philadelphia apartment house to deliver an important message. anyone else is likely to be perplexed by the muddled mythmaking or actively astonished at the self-indulgent ego of a writer-director-producer who casts himself in the role of a visionary writer whose martyrdom will change the world."