The Invisible has aspirations of being deep and thoughtful. It is based on a high concept that is well worth exploring. The problem is that this movie goes in the wrong direction. It takes the concepts that were used to much greater effect in The Sixth Sense and Ghost and twists them into an emo soup populated with a cast of characters that I cared nothing about. The end result is a near complete dullard of a film.

This is the kind of movie that makes one wonder if the creative team actually stopped to look at what they were making. I get the feeling they were so in love with the concept that they were blinded to any of the problems that cropped up, an over-confidence in the material.

The story concerns high school student Nick Powell, who is attacked, left for dead, and now exists in a state of limbo. It is up to Nick to solve his murder in order to live again (as explained in the trailer through a scene not appearing in the film). The concept is definitely of the high variety, but is one that holds a lot of promise. The problem is the character development is too weak to truly carry the concept anywhere. The story never really takes off, and never comes together in any logical fashion. The characters are mere sketches of people, there more to propel the plot then to inhabit the world. Plus, none of them are all that likable and are painted in rather broad strokes.

We are introduced to Nick, an apparently gifted poet who makes money on the side by selling term papers to the school jocks. He is an angst-filled rich kid whose father died when he was young and who has a standoffish, cold mother who doesn't listen to him. Why should I like this guy? Is it because he stuck up for his broke friend who bought a stolen cell phone from the school underachiever? Because his mommy doesn't listen to him? He is just an annoying kid that I have no reason to connect with, much less when his limbo-land adventures begin. Sure, the murder (or attempted murder) of a young person (or anyone) is tragic and the exploration of this next stage is fascinating, but couldn’t we at least have someone we like?

Not all films need to have likable characters, but they have to have interesting ones. The characters in this film are not all that interesting, much less likable. Nick is annoying; there is not one reason offered to like or identify with him. Then there is Peter, his supposed best friend who sells him out to save his own skin. Finally we have Annie Newton, the young woman who does her darnedest to kill our “hero.” Why? She thinks he sold her out to the cops on charges of robbery. They try to make her likable by showing her rough home life and her little brother whom she protects.

I have heard that people had a hard time “getting” this film because you have to pay real close attention. I have to say this was not hard to get at all — the hard part was trying to like it. Besides the unlikable characters, the script went through some gymnastics to get everyone into place and fails to explain, or give adequate surrounding information, why some things happen. I am mainly speaking of the climactic scene involving Annie and Nick; it seems to change the rules, or at least skip a few steps along the way.