For months the rumors have been that “Lady in the Water” was a self-indulgent disaster in the making.

Guess what? The rumors were wrong.

Which is not to say that “Lady in the Water” is close to being as good as “The Sixth Sense.”

But M. Night Shyamalan’s latest picture has its moments and hangs together well enough to overcome some clumsiness and a pace that’s too slow for the relatively slight story.

The film is based on a bedtime tale Shyamalan has told to his daughters about a narf (sea nymph) who, while on Earth trying to communicate with humans, is stalked by a vicious Skrunt, a hyena-like creature that wants to kill her before she can return to save her Blue World.

That myth has to be explained in the movie’s title sequence, which is never a good thing. But Shyamalan benefits greatly from the work of his two principal players: Paul Giamatti, who plays the super in the apartment complex where the narf turns up, and Bryce Dallas Howard as the nymph.

Giamatti, who was brilliant in Alexander Payne’s “Sideways” and got an Oscar nomination for “Cinderella Man,” brings humor and considerable heart to Cleveland Heep, a disillusioned doctor who is shuffling through life taking care of The Cove, a humdrum apartment complex in Philadelphia, where all Shyamalan’s films are set.

Connected to all the complex’s residents, Heep’s a good guy whose life has taken a bad turn. Then he starts noticing motion and odd material in the pool. Soon enough, Story the narf turns up. Howard, who was in “The Village” and “Manderlay,” plays her perfectly, with a combination of innocence and detachment.

The rest of the apartment complex dwellers get into the story as Shyamalan layers on the symbolism in an effort at creating some kind of deep meaning from what should have been a simple story.

There’s a Korean mother and daughter who translate the narf myth for Heep, a movie/book critic (smartly played by Bob Balaban), a group of dope-smoking slackers, a puzzle solver (Jeffrey Wright), a weightlifter (Freddie Rodriguez), an isolated man (Bill Irwin) and a brother and sister who are key to Story’s mission.

The brother is played by Shyamalan, who photographs himself in the most flattering manner possible. He’s also the person entrusted with carrying an important message to the future. How’s that for a tribute to your own ego?

Each of the characters becomes a seemingly obvious symbol in Shyamalan’s sometimes ponderous story. But it wouldn’t be one of his screenplays if there wasn’t a twist or two at the end.

However, there’s nothing all that dramatic in the twist — or all that original in the symbols or the story itself.

If it hadn’t taken itself so seriously, “Lady in the Water” could have been a fine cinematic bedtime story. As it is, it’s a watchable movie that has some strengths, even if it doesn’t measure up to Shyamalan’s best.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or at kwolgamott@journalstar.com.

Lady in the Water

**1/2 (out of four stars)

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Stars: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bob Balaban, Jeffrey Wright

Rated: PG-13 (for some frightening sequences)

Running Time: 1 hour, 50 minutes

Now Showing: Grand, East Park

The Reel Story: A sea nymph from another world comes to a Philadelphia apartment complex in this bedtime story from “The Sixth Sense” director.